Word.ws English Dictionary

Barnstaple

/ˈbɑː(ɹ)nstəpəɫ/

Barnstaple proper noun: a town and civil parish with a town council in North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS5633).

Proper noun

Barnstaple

  1. A town and civil parish with a town council in North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS5633).

Origin of Barnstaple

Formerly Barnstable; the name is first recorded in the 10th century and is believed to derive from the Old English bearde (“battle-axe”) and stapol (“pillar”). Not related to staple in the sense of a market, which arose later.

Phrases with Barnstaple

Questions about Barnstaple

What does Barnstaple mean?
Barnstaple means a town and civil parish with a town council in North Devon district, Devon, England (OS grid ref SS5633).
What part of speech is Barnstaple?
Barnstaple is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Barnstaple?
Barnstaple is pronounced /ˈbɑː(ɹ)nstəpəɫ/ (UK).

Words near Barnstaple in the dictionary

  1. Barnsleyite
  2. Barnsleyites
  3. Barnsleys
  4. Barnstable
  5. Barnstable County
  6. Barnstaple
  7. Barnstaple oven
  8. Barnstaple ovens
  9. barnstar
  10. barnstars
  11. Barnstead

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Barnstaple (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-uk-Barnstaple.ogg.

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