TEPLY (Sclav.),
warm; e.g. Tepla (the warm stream); Tepel, on the R. Tepla (in the neighbourhood of warm mineral waters); Teplitz, the name of towns in Hungary, Bavaria, and Illyria, sometimes written Toplitz; Teplik and Teplovka, in Russia; Teflis, in Georgia, celebrated for its warm baths.
TERRA (Lat., It., and Port.),
TIERRA (Span.),
TERRE (French),
TIR (Gadhelic and Cym.-Cel.),
land; e.g. Terciera (the rough land), in the Azores; Terranova (the new land), in Sicily, supposed to be on the site of the ancient Gela; Tierra-del-fuego (the land of fire), so named on account of the numerous fires seen on the land by the first discoverers; Terregles (church land); Tiree Island, Gael. Tir-ith (the land of corn); Terryglas, i.e. Tir-da-ghlas (the land of the two rivers), Co. Tipperary; Terryland, i.e. Tir-oilein (the land of the island); Tyrone, anc. Tir-Eoghain (Owen’s land); Tir-Rosser, i.e. Tir-Rhos-hir (the long peat land), in Caermarthen; Pentir (the headland); Gwydir, from the roots gwy, water, and tir, a general term for moist land in different places in Wales. It was the ancient name of Glastonbury; Tiranascragh (the land of the sand hill, esker), Co. Galway; Tyrconell (the land of Conell), the ancient name of Co. Donegal; Carstairs, in Lanarkshire, anc. Casteltarras, probably corrupt. from Castelterres (the castle lands), the castle in the village having been the site of a Roman station; Culter, in Lanarkshire, anc. Cultir (the back of the land); Finisterroe (land’s end), now Cape Finistère, the north-west extremity of France; Blantyre (warm land—blane, warm), in Lanarkshire; Terrebonne (good land), in Canada; Terre-haute (high land), in Indiana.
THAL (Ger.),
a valley—v. DAL.
THING, or TING,
a term applied by the Scandinavians to the legislative assemblies of their nation, and also to the places where these assemblies met, from an old word tinga, to speak. Traces of these institutions appear in the topography of certain districts in Great Britain formerly occupied by Danes or Norwegians. The Norwegian Parliament is still called the Storthing or great assembly; smaller courts are called Lawthings, and the Althing was the general assembly of the whole nation. These meetings were generally held on some remote island, hill, or promontory, where their deliberations might be undisturbed. The Swedish Parliament used to assemble on a mound near Upsala, which still bears the name of Tingshogen, Scand. haugr; Thingveller (the council-plains), in Iceland; Sandsthing (the place of meeting on the sand), in Iceland; Aithsthing (the meeting-place on the headland), in Iceland; Dingwall, in Ross-shire, has the same derivation—its Gaelic name is Inverpeffer (at the mouth of that stream); Tingwall, in Shetland, Tynwald Hill, Isle of Man, Thingwall in Cheshire, and Dinsdale in Durham, from the same root; Tinwald, in Dumfries (the wood of the meeting); Tain, in Ross-shire, Norse Thing—its Gaelic name is Baile-Duich (St. Duthic’s town).
THOR and THUR,
prefixes derived from the Saxon and Scandinavian deity Thor; e.g. Thorley, Thurley, Thursley, Thorsby, Thurlow, the valley, dwelling, and hill, named after Thor, or perhaps from a people or family name derived from the god, i.e. the Thurings, from whence also probably come Thorington in England, and Thorigné and Thorigny in France; Thüringerwald, in Germany; Thurston, Thursford, Thurscross, Thurlstone, etc.; Thorsoe (Thor’s island); Thurso (Thor’s stream, on which the town of Thurso is situated); Thorshaven (Thor’s harbour), in Norway and in the Faroe Islands. On the continent the god Thor was worshipped under the name of Thunor, hence the English word thunder and the German Donner (supposed, in the Middle Ages, to be Thor’s voice). From this word are derived Thunersberg and Donnersberg (the mountain of Thor); Donnersbach (Thor’s stream), in Styria; Torslunde (Thor’s sacred grove), in Denmark.