nottingham

nottingham — noun

1. a city in the East Midlands of England, located on the River Trent and known as

1.nounB1
Definition

a city in the East Midlands of England, located on the River Trent and known as the main centre of the county of Nottinghamshire.

Example

Nottingham is a large city in the East Midlands with a famous old castle.

Imran moved to Nottingham last year to study engineering at the university.

used with 'to' for movement; common with university contexts

Common collocations
  • in Nottingham
  • to Nottingham
  • from Nottingham
  • the city of Nottingham
  • Nottingham is known for
  • live in Nottingham
  • visit Nottingham
  • move to Nottingham

Grammar Patterns

in Nottingham

from Nottingham

to Nottingham

Nottingham + verb (singular)

Usage Note

Nottingham is best known internationally for the legend of Robin Hood, who is said to have lived in Sherwood Forest near the city. The city is also home to two major universities: the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University. In speech, 'in Nottingham' is the standard prepositional phrase; 'at Nottingham' may be used when referring to the university (e.g., 'She is studying at Nottingham'). The abbreviation 'Notts' is occasionally used in writing for Nottinghamshire but not for the city itself.

Word family

  • Nottinghamshire
    nounB1
  • Nottinghamian
    nounC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Nottingham, Leicester, and Derby are three cities in the East Midlands of England, each serving as the main centre of its own county. Nottingham is the largest of the three and the most internationally recognised, largely due to the Robin Hood legend. Leicester lies about 25 miles south of Nottingham and is similar in size, while Derby is smaller and lies to the west. Sheffield, though in Yorkshire rather than the East Midlands, is another nearby city often compared with Nottingham because both have strong industrial histories and major universities. A learner would say 'He lives in Nottingham' for the first three but 'in Sheffield' for the fourth; the prepositional patterns are identical.

Leicester ↗Derby ↗Sheffield ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Phrases

  • the city of Nottingham
  • move to Nottingham
  • live in Nottingham
  • visit Nottingham

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

The name Nottingham comes from Old English 'Snotingaham', meaning 'the homestead of Snot's people'. Snot was an Anglo-Saxon chieftain. Over time the initial 'S' was dropped in pronunciation and spelling, giving the modern form. The name is first recorded in the 9th century, and by the time of the Domesday Book (1086) it appeared as 'Snotingeham' and 'Notingeham'.