ILI (Turc.),
a district; e.g. Ili-Bosnia (the district of the R. Bosna); Rumeli or Roumelia (the district of the Romans).
ILLIA (Basque),
a town; e.g. Elloirio, Illora, and Illura (the town on the water, ura); Lorca, anc. Illurcis (the town with fine water); Elibyrge (the town with the tower), Grk. pyrgos; Elché, anc. Illici (the town on the hill, ci); Illiberus (new town, surnamed Elne after the Empress Helena), in Spain; the isle of Oleron, anc. Illura (the town on the water).
IM and IN,
a contraction for the Ger. in der (in or on the); e.g. Imgrund (in the valley); Imhorst (in the wood); Eimbeck (on the brook); Imruke (on the ridge).
ING, INGEN,
INGA,
an affix used by the Teutonic races, as a patronymic, in the same sense as Mac is used in Scotland, ap in Wales, and O in Ireland. Ing is generally affixed to the settlement of a chief, and ingen to that of his descendants. Ing, preceding ham, ton, dean, ley, thorp, worth, etc., is generally an abbreviation of ingen, and denotes that the place belonged to the family of the tribe, as in Bonnington, Collington, Collingham, Islington (the home of the Bonnings, the Collings, and the Islings). In French topography ingen takes the forms of igny, igné, or inges; and it appears, by comparing the names of many towns and villages in England and the north-west of France with those of Germany, that Teutonic tribes forming settlements in these countries transferred the names in their native land to their new homes. For the full elucidation of this subject reference may be made to Taylor’s Words and Places, chap. vii. and the Appendix, and to Edmund’s Names of Places, p. 58. Only a few examples of the use of this patronymic can be given here; thus, from the Offings—Oving and Ovingham, corresponding to the Ger. Offingen and the Fr. Offignes. From the Eppings—Epping, Ger. Eppinghofen, and Fr. Epagne. The Bings—Bing, Bingham, Bingley; Ger. Bingen; Fr. Buigny. The Basings—Eng. Basing, Basingham, Bessingby; Fr. Bazigny. From the Raedings—Reading, Co. Berks. The Harlings—Harlington. The Billings—Bellington. From the Moerings or Merovingians many French towns and villages are named; e.g. Morigny, Marigné, Merignac, Merrigny; in England—Merring, Merrington. We can sometimes trace these tribe names to the nature of the localities which they inhabited. Thus the Bucings, from which we have Boking and Buckingham, to a locality abounding in beech-trees, boc; the Durotriges, from which we have Dorset and Dorchester, are the dwellers by the water, dur; as well as the Eburovices, who gave their name to Evreux, in France. Ing, also, in A.S. names, sometimes means a meadow, as in Clavering, in Essex (clover meadow), A.S. Claefer; Mountnessing, Co. Essex (the meadow of the Mountneys, who were formerly lords of the manor); Godalming (the meadow of Godhelm).
INNER (Ger.),
opposed to ausser (the inner and outer), as in Innerzell, Ausserzell (the inner and outer church).