Telford

name, noun

name, noun ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A road pavement having a surface of small stone rolled hard and smooth, distinguished from macadam road by its firm foundation of large stones with fragments of stone wedged tightly in the interstices. attributive, uncountable

    "a Telford road"

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A characteristical surname. countable
  2. 2
    A new town in Telford and Wrekin borough and the ceremonial county of Shropshire, England, named after Thomas Telford (OS grid ref SJ7008). countable, uncountable
  3. 3
    A locality in the Shire of Moira, Victoria, Australia. countable, uncountable
  4. 4
    A place in the United States:; A borough in Bucks County and Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, named after Thomas Telford. countable, uncountable
  5. 5
    A place in the United States:; A census-designated place in Washington County, Tennessee, named after state senator George Whitfield Telford. countable, uncountable
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  1. 6
    A place in the United States:; An unincorporated community in Lincoln County, Washington, named after cattleman M. A Telford. countable, uncountable

Etymology

From Old French taille fer, meaning "(he who) cuts iron" or "iron-cleaver"; used as a nickname for a man who could cleave clean through the armour of his foe. The second syllable was eventually reanalysed as native English 'ford'. * (road): Named after Thomas Telford, a famous civil engineer.

Related phrases

Telford and Wrekinnew towntelford and wrekin

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.