English Explanatory Dictionary

Gotham

English dictionary entry

Meanings

name
  1. Nickname for New York City: a major city in New York, United States.
  2. A village and civil parish in Rushcliffe borough, Nottinghamshire, England, associated in folklore with insanity (OS grid ref SK5330).
  3. Ellipsis of Gotham City: a fictional city serving as the primary setting for the Batman franchise.

Pronunciation

/ˈɡɒθəm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Gotham (Batman).wav /ˈɡəʊtəm/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Gotham (UK).wav

Word forms

Gotham

Etymology

“Homestead where goats are kept”, from Old English gāt (“goat”) + hām (“home”). * (New York City nickname): First used 1807 by Washington Irving in his Salmagundi Papers: see the quotation. The original pronunciation had /th/ with later loss of /h/. The pronunciation with /θ/ is a spelling pronunciation that arose from a misreading of th as a digraph.

Related words

Bedlam

Derived words

Gothamite
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