thumb|250px|right|Ruined dun in [[Loch Steinacleit on Lewis]]

thumb|Walls of [[Dún Aonghasa, a dun on Inishmore, Ireland]]

thumb|[[Dunamase, central Ireland (from Irish Dún Másc, "Másc's fort")]]

A dun is an ancient or medieval fort. In Great Britain and Ireland it is mainly a kind of hillfort and also a kind of Atlantic roundhouse.

Etymology

The term comes from Irish dún or Scottish Gaelic dùn (meaning "fort"), and is cognate with Old Welsh din (whence Welsh dinas "city" comes).

In certain instances, place-names containing Dun- or similar in Northern England and Southern Scotland, may be derived from a Brittonic cognate of the Welsh form din. In this region, substitution of the Brittonic form by the Gaelic equivalent may have been widespread in toponyms.

  • Dunimarle, Fife
  • Dinedor, Herefordshire - formerly Dunre, Welsh dinbre; compare Dinder above.
  • Tintagel, Cornwall Coates has rejected such an etymology as "incompatible with early forms".
  • Tintern, Monmouthshire yielding Greek δοῦνον. It is ultimately cognate to English town. The Gaulish term survives in many toponyms in France and Switzerland:
  • Autun - Augustodūnon fort of Augustus
  • Lyon – Lugudūnon "Lugus' fort"
  • Nevers – Nouiodūnon "new fort"
  • Olten – Ol(l)odūnonm "fort on the Olon river"
  • Thun – Dūnon
  • Verdun – Uerodūnon "strong fort"
  • Yverdon-les-Bains – Eburodūnon "yew fort"

Germany

  • Kempten, Bavaria – Cambodunum

Bulgaria and Serbia

  • Dunonia
  • Singidunum

Romania

  • Noviodunum - Ancient Latin name of the town Isaccea in Dobruja, Romania

Elsewhere in the world

  • Dunedin, New Zealand – from Dùn Èideann, the Gaelic name for Edinburgh.
  • Dunedin, Florida, USA – see Dunedin, New Zealand.

See also

  • Prehistoric Scotland
  • Dun cow

References