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From: deb5@midway.uchicago.edu (Daniel von Brighoff)
Subject: Re: waldorf astoria
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Keywords: name origin
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References: <5979qb$epc@news.NetVision.net.il> <19961219033441EURMXK@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com> <1996Dec23.124334@visi6>
Date: Fri, 27 Dec 1996 03:32:58 GMT
Lines: 28

In article <1996Dec23.124334@visi6>, Richard Mathar <mathar@qtp.ufl.edu> wrote:
>
>EURMXK@sdcmvs.mvs.sas.com writes:
>|> >John Davies <john@redwoods.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>|> >
>|> >>In article <850594415.24519@dejanews.com>, zvib@netvision.net.il writes
>|> >>> what is the meaning of the world Waldorf,and what is it's
>|> >>>   etymology?
>|>  
>|> Well, perhaps you couldn't find it because of its "Americanized" (?)
>|> spelling.  Actually it is Walldorf near Heidelberg, a rather small
>|> town but somewhat famous for a big software company that has its
>|> Corporate Headquarters there.
>|>  
>
>My trivial guess is that the origin (original meaning) of this name is
>a melting of the words "Wald" (forest) or "Wall" (dike) with "Dorf" (village)
>with removal of one of the d's or one of the l's. This might lead to
>some hundered villages and towns with similar names in Germany.

	As I posted before (to no effect, it seems), the _Cambridge
Dictionary of Surnames_, a quite reliable general reference source in such
matters, derives all German towns of this name (they mention only three)
from "wald" + "dorf".
-- 
	 Daniel "Da" von Brighoff    /\          Dilettanten
	(deb5@midway.uchicago.edu)  /__\         erhebt Euch
				   /____\      gegen die Kunst!
