Tre- or tref- is a place name element of Celtic origin meaning "hamlet, farmstead, estate", etc. which survives mainly in

Cornwall Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlantic ...

Padel, Oliver J., ''Place Names'', article published in ''Kain, Roger & Ravenhill, William, (eds.) Historical Atlas of South-West England'', Exeter, 1999, pp.88-94, esp.88-90 and

Wales Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...

. The Cornish place-name beginning ''Tre-'' may be compared to the Cornish place-name beginning ''Bod-'' and the place-name endings ''-worthy'' and ''-cot'' in Devon, and ''-ham'' and ''-tun / -ton'' throughout England. In a study by

Oliver Padel Oliver James Padel (born 31 October 1948 in St Pancras, London, England) is an English medievalist and toponymist specializing in Welsh and Cornish studies. He is currently Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Anglo-Saxon, Norse, an ...

of surviving place names in South-west England starting with "Tre-", including cities, towns, villages, hamlets, and individual farms, he found that almost all were situated west of the

River Tamar The Tamar (; kw, Dowr Tamar) is a river in south west England, that forms most of the border between Devon (to the east) and Cornwall (to the west). A part of the Tamar Valley is a World Heritage Site due to its historic mining activities. T ...

, the natural border between Cornwall and Devon, with just a small concentration on the north-east side in Devon, near the narrower, shallower source area of the River. Padel reached two possible explanations: either ''Tre-'' names were formed at a date later than the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Devon, or ''Tre-'' names existing in Devon were superseded by new names following the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Devon (probably 7th to 8th centuries). He concluded that the striking boundary line was evidence of political and linguistic distinction at some time from the 8th to 11th centuries.

References

{{Reflist Place name element etymologies History of Cornwall Prefixes

See also

References