a house; e.g. Bethany (the house of dates); Bethphage (of figs); Bethsaida (of fish); Bethoron (of caves); Bethabara (of the ford); Bethlehem (the house of bread), but its present name, Beit-lahm, means the house of flesh; Bethesda (of mercy); Betharaba (desert dwelling); Bethjesimoth (of wastes); Bethshemish Grk. Heliopolis (the house or city of the sun); its Egyptian name was Aun-i-Aun (light of light), contracted to On; Beit-Allah (the house of God), at Mecca; Beit-el-Fakih (the house of the saint), on the Red Sea.
BETTWS (Cym.-Cel.),
a portion of land lying between a river and a hill, hence a dwelling so situated; e.g. Bettws-yn-y-coed (the dwelling in the wood); Bettws-disserth (the retreat dwelling); Bettws-Garmon (of St. Germanus, where he led the Britons to the famous Alleluia victory over the Saxons); Bettws-Newydd (new dwelling).
BETULA (Lat.),
BOULEAU (Fr.),
the birch-tree; e.g. Le Boulay, La Boulay, Les Boulages, Les Boulus, Belloy (places planted with birch-trees).
BIBER, BEVER (Teut.),
BOBR (Sclav.),
the beaver; e.g. the Biber, Beber, Biberich, Beber-bach (rivers in Germany); Bober, Boberau, Bobronia (beaver river), in Silesia and Russia; Bobersburg (on the R. Bober); Biberschlag (beaver’s wood clearing); Biberstein (beaver rock); Beverley, in Yorkshire, anc. Biberlac (beaver lake), formerly surrounded by marshy ground, the resort of beavers; Beverstone, in Gloucester; Beverloo (beaver marsh), in Belgium.
BILL,
an old German word, signifying plain or level; e.g. Bilderlah (the field of the plain); Billig-ham (level dwelling); Wald-billig (woody plain); Wasser-billig (the watery plain); Bilstein (level rock); Bielefeld (level field); Bieler-see (the lake on the plain).
BIOR (Gadhelic),