little; e.g. Morbihan (the little sea), in Brittany; Taafe-fechan (the little River Taafe), in Wales. In Ireland: Castlebeg (little castle); Downkillybegs (the fortress of the little church); Bunbeg (small river mouth); Rathbeg (little fort).
BEIM,
a contraction of the Ger. bei-dem (by the); e.g. Beimbach, Beimberg, Beimhofen (by the brook, the hill, the court).
BEINN (Gadhelic),
BEN,
a mountain, cognate with the Cym.-Cel. pen; e.g. Beanach (a hilly place); Ben-more (great mountain); Ben-a-buird (table mountain); Ben-a-bhaird (the bard’s mountain); Benan, i.e. Binnean (the peaked hill or pinnacle); Bencleuch (stony mountain); Ben-cruachan (the stack-shaped mountain, cruach); Bendearg (red mountain); Bendronach (the mountain with the hunch, dronnag); Bengloe (the mountain with the covering or veil, gloth); Benamore and Bannmore (the great peaks, beanna, peaks); Bennachie (the hill of the pap, at its summit, ache); Benavoir (the mountain of gold, or), in Jura; Benclibrig (the hill of the playing trout); Benloyal, i.e, Ben-laoghal (the hill of the calves); Ben-na-cailleach (nun’s hill); Ben Lomond, named from Loch Lomond, quod vide; Benmacdhui, i.e. Beinn-na-muc-dubh (the mountain of the black sow); Ben Nevis (the cloud-capped or snowy mountain); Benvenue (the little mountain), as compared with Benledi; Benwyvis (stupendous mountain, uabhasach); Benvrachie (spotted mountain); Benvoirlich (the mountain of the great loch). In Ireland: Benbo, i.e. Beannabo (the peaks of the cows); Dunmanway, in Cork, corrupt. from Dun-na-mbeann (the fortress of the pinnacles). In Ireland ben is more generally applied to small steep hills than to mountains; e.g. Bengore (the peak of the goats, gabhar); Benburb, Lat. pinna superba (proud peak), in Tyrone; the Twelve Pins, i.e. bens or peaks, in Connemara; Banagh and Benagh (a place full of peaks); Bannaghbane and Bannaghroe (white and red hilly ground); Banaghar, King’s Co., and Bangor, Co. Down, anc. Beannchar (the pointed hills or rocks); but Bangor, in Wales, signifies the high choir; Drumbanagh (the ridge of the peaks).
BEL, BELLE, BEAU (Fr.),
BELLO, BELLA (Port., Span., It.),
beautiful, fine, from the Lat. bellus; e.g. Belchamp, Belcastro (beautiful field and camp); Belle-isle and Belile (beautiful island); Beaufort, Beaulieu, Beaumont, Beaumanoir (fine fort, place, mount, manor); Beaumaris (the fair marsh), so named in the reign of Edward I. Some think it may have been formerly Bimaris (between two seas), a name applied by Horace to Corinth; Belvoir (beautiful to see), in Rutland; Bewley and Bewdley, corrupt. from Beaulieu; Beauley, a river and village in Inverness-shire, named from Prioratus-de-bello-loco (the priory of the beautiful place), founded in 1230; Beachy Head, according to Camden, is the head of the beach, but Holland, who published Camden’s Britannia, says it was called Beaucliff, or, more probably, Beauchef (beautiful headland); Beaudesert (beautiful retreat); Belper, i.e. Beau-repaire (with the same meaning), in Warwick and Derbyshire; Leighton-Buzzard, corrupt. of its ancient name Legionbuhr (the fortress of the legion); Balaclava, corrupt. from its ancient name Bella-chiava (the beautiful frontier town, chiave), founded by the Genoese.
BEL, BIALA (Sclav.),
white; e.g. Biela (white stream); Bela, Belaia (white place); Belowes and Belowiz (white village); was or wies (a town or village); Belgrade, Ger. Weissenburg (white fortress); Bialgorod, Turc. Akkermann (white castle); Belki or Bielki (a name applied in Russia to snow-capped mountains); Berat, in Albania, corrupt. from Belgrade (white fort).
BEL, BEAL (Gadhelic),