St Kilda

English

Etymology

Apparently from Old Norse skildir (“shields”).[1]

Proper noun

St Kilda

  1. An archipelago in the westernmost part of the Outer Hebrides, Scotland.
  2. Any of various localities in Australia, New Zealand and Canada, named for the archipelago.

References
  1. 2010, David Farmer, "Kilda", entry in The Oxford Dictionary of Saints, 5th Edition Revised, page 255 — Kilda (Kilder), supposedly titular of an island west of the Outer Hebrides, never existed. The name is a corruption of 'Skildir', a Norse word meaning 'shields', which was given to a group of these islands west of Harris. Later it was transferred to the island Hirta, which by the late 16th century, through orthographic and cartographic error, became known as ‘St Kilda’.
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