Word.ws English Dictionary

Essex

/ˈɛs.ɪks/

Essex proper noun: a maritime county of England bordered by the North Sea, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London, and separated from Kent by the Thames estuary.

essex: a maritime county of England bordered by the North Sea, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and...
Image: Greentubing, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Proper noun

Essex

  1. A maritime county of England bordered by the North Sea, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London, and separated from Kent by the Thames estuary.
  2. A town in Essex County, Ontario, Canada.
  3. A locality in Humboldt County, California.
  4. A small unincorporated community in San Bernardino County, California.
  5. A town in Middlesex County, Connecticut.
  6. A township and village therein, in Kankakee County, Illinois.
  7. A township in Stark County, Illinois.
  8. A city in Page County, Iowa.
  9. An unincorporated community and census-designated place in Baltimore County, Maryland.
  10. A coastal town and census-designated place in Essex County, Massachusetts.
  11. A township in Clinton County, Michigan.
  12. A city in Stoddard County, Missouri.
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  1. An unincorporated community in Flathead County, Montana.
  2. A town in Essex County, New York.
  3. An unincorporated community in Halifax County, North Carolina.
  4. An unincorporated community in Union County, Ohio.
  5. A large rural town in Chittenden County, Vermont.
  6. A surname.
  7. A unisex given name transferred from the place name.
    • A divorce has been granted to Mrs. Essex Leila Hilary Drury, formerly Miss Essex French, on the ground of misconduct.1935 March 12, “Mrs. E. L. Drury Divorced […]”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC
    • Retired Army colonel Essex Moorcroft is going to war against the 50-penny piece. He said yesterday at his home in Rosset, Denbighshire: “It is an ugly coin and an insult to our Sovereign, whose image it bears.”1969 October 23, “‘Give the new 10s Coin a Chance’ Call”, in Daily Mirror, London: Daily Mirror Newspapers, →OCLC, page 32, columns 3–4

Origin of Essex

Inherited from Old English Ēastseaxan (literally “East Saxons”), which stood for both Essex and the people of Essex.

Words formed from Essex

Phrases with Essex

Words that rhyme with Essex

Questions about Essex

What does Essex mean?
Essex means a maritime county of England bordered by the North Sea, Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire and Greater London, and separated from Kent by the Thames estuary.
What part of speech is Essex?
Essex is a proper noun.
How do you pronounce Essex?
Essex is pronounced /ˈɛs.ɪks/ (UK).

Words near Essex in the dictionary

  1. Essepians
  2. Essequibo
  3. Esser
  4. Essers
  5. esses
  6. Essex
  7. Essex Center
  8. Essex County
  9. Essex girl
  10. Essex girls
  11. Essex Junction

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: Essex (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: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-Essex.wav, LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-Essex.wav.

Cite this entry: “Essex.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/essex. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.