The Collaborative International Dictionary
Thwaite \Thwaite\, n. (Zo["o]l.) The twaite.
Thwaite \Thwaite\, n. [CF. Icel. [thorn]veit a piece of land, fr. [thorn]v[=i]ta to cut. See Thwite, and cf. Doit, and Twaite land cleared of woods.] Forest land cleared, and converted to tillage; an assart.
Note: Thwaite occurs in composition as the last element in many names of places in the north of England; as, in Rosthwaite, Stonethwaite.
Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
"cleared land," 1620s, from Old Norse or Old Danish þveit "a clearing, meadow, paddock," literally "a cutting, cut-piece" (related to Old English þwitan "to cut, cut off;" see whittle). Always a rare word and now obsolete, but frequently encountered in place names, but "It is unclear whether the base meaning was 'something cut off, detached piece of land,' or 'something cut down, felled tree' ..." [Cambridge Dictionary of English Place-Names].
Wiktionary
Etymology 1 n. (context archaic English) A piece of forest land cleared for agriculture or habitation; a clearing; assart Etymology 2
n. (alternative form of twaite English)
Wikipedia
__NOTOC__ Thwaite may refer to:
Thwaite is a common element of placenames in North West England, and Yorkshire. It is also found elsewhere in England, including two places called Thwaite in Norfolk and one in Suffolk. It is most often found as a suffix. It is a common element of field names, as well as settlement names.
The name is usually from Old Norse thveit (also written þveit), but sometimes from Old Danish thwēt, both meaning "clearing" or "meadow". Nevertheless, in England the name does not necessarily indicate a place of Scandinavian or Norman foundation, because it is often found in combination with Middle English or Old German personal names.
The element is also found in Normandy. In the Eure department alone there are at least five placenames with the same thveit root and meaning "clearing in a wooded area", locally represented as Thuit: Le Thuit; Thuit-Hébert; Le Thuit-Simer; Le Thuit-Signol; Le Thuit-Anger. In total there is no fewer than 89 placenames in Normandy with 'Tuit' in them.
In Orkney and Shetland the element appears as Twatt. In Norway, the element appears as Tveit ( Nynorsk) or Tvedt ( Dano-Norwegian).
Thwaite is an English surname. Notable people with this surname include the following:
- Ann Thwaite (born 1932), British biographer
- Anthony Thwaite (born 1930), English poet and writer
- Bruce Thwaite Australian paralympic competitor
- Mark Thwaite (born 1965), English guitarist
- Michael Thwaite (born 1983), Australian soccer player
Usage examples of "thwaite".
Gilly Thwaite only tossed him a title, like a bone, when she was being sarcastic.
Miss Mary has plenty of money and will you go to Thwaite and buy her some flower seeds and a set of garden tools to make a flower-bed.
Honey whose real name was Emma Thwaite had started to think of herself as streetwise.
But Luke Cockrigg, Reuben Thwaite, and the rest had remained silent and somewhat appalled.
This form of contempt might have escaped the observation of the person for whom it was intended had not Reuben Thwaite, who walked beside Matthew, gently emphasized it with a jerk of the elbow and a motion of the thumb.
Matthew BranThwaite, Monsey Laman, and Reuben Thwaite were among the dozen or more dalesmen who left the procession at this point.
Reuben Thwaite had repeated for some fresh batch of inquirers the story, so often told, of how the mare took to flight, and of how Ralph leaped on to the young horse in pursuit of it.
When Reuben Thwaite formed this resolution he was less than a mile from ShoulThwaite.
A moment later the door was thrown open, and Liza BranThwaite stood in the porch with Reuben Thwaite behind her.
Thwaites had asked, and this question, according to Thwaites, had caused his father to pause and think for a few moments before he answered it.
We had not the slightest doubt that these things were saturated in the dreaded anaesthetic which, as Thwaites had many times pointed out to us, could put you to sleep for hours at a stretch.
The pair lay sweating and muzzy headed while Thwaites refueled his boat and left.
But it had been indicated to him that the Duke desired secrecy, and secrecy Thwaites was trying to maintain.
He exhorted Thwaites to let him know immediately the Duke returned, or if news of him arrived, and to report to him by telephone every two hours if the Duke had not returned.
Putting into Algiers, Thwaites was sent ashore by the captain to buy some sheep, but did not return to the boat and, it being supposed he had been assassinated, the ship sailed without him.