Xanten

See also: xanten

English

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈsʌntən/, /ˈsæntən/, /ˈsɑːntən/

Proper noun

Xanten

1. A town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.

Anagrams

• annext

Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from German Xanten, from Latin sanctōs.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈksɑn.tə(n)/
• Hyphenation: Xan‧ten
• Rhymes: -ɑntən

Proper noun

Xanten n

1. Xanten, a city in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, near the Rhine

   Synonym: Santen

German

Alternative forms

• Santen (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle High German Sante(n), from Latin Sanctos (literally “(at) the saints”). The spelling with initial X- first appears in Latin texts of the 10th century. One theory links it with Ancient Greek Ξάνθος (Xánthos), the gods’ name for the Scamander river near Troy according to the Iliad. This theory is based on the fact that there was indeed a well-attested mediaeval legend equating Xanten with Troy. The inherited local pronunciation is Santen /ˈsan.tən/, but it has now been widely displaced by the spelling pronunciation. Xanten is the only German locality in X- (though there are a few Bavarian ones in Gs-, also pronounced with /ks/).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈksan.tən/

• Audio

  (file)

Proper noun

Xanten n (proper noun, genitive Xantens or (optionally with an article) Xanten)

1. Xanten (a town in Lower Rhine, North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany)

   Meronyms: Birten, Lüttingen, Marienbaum, Wardt

References

• Hawicks, Heike: Sanctos–Xantum–Troia – Zum Einfluss ottonisch-byzantinischer Beziehungen auf die Toponymie im Xantener Raum, in: Ludwig, Uwe & Schilp, Thomas (editors): Mittelalter an Rhein und Maas – Beiträge zur Geschichte des Niederrheins, Waxmann Verlag, 2004, p. 27-41.