Editing Devon (section)

===Toponymy===
The name ''Devon'' derives from the name of the [[Brythons]] who inhabited the southwestern peninsula of Britain at the time of the [[Roman conquest of Britain]] known as the [[Dumnonii]], thought to mean 'deep valley dwellers' from [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] {{lang|cel-x-proto|*dubnos}} 'deep'. In the [[Brittonic languages]], Devon is known as {{langx|cy|Dyfnaint}}, {{langx|br|Devnent}} and {{langx|kw|Dewnens}}, each meaning 'deep valleys'. (For an account of Celtic ''[[Dumnonia]]'', see the separate article.) Among the most common Devon placenames is ''-combe'' which derives from Brittonic {{lang|cel|cwm}} meaning 'valley' usually prefixed by the name of the possessor.{{fact|date=March 2023}}

[[William Camden]], in his 1607 edition of ''Britannia'', described Devon as being one part of an older, wider country that once included [[Cornwall]]:
{{Blockquote|THAT region which, according to the Geographers, is the first of all Britaine, and, growing straiter still and narrower, shooteth out farthest into the West, [...] was in antient time inhabited by those Britans whom Solinus called Dumnonii, Ptolomee Damnonii [...] For their habitation all over this Countrey is somewhat low and in valleys, which manner of dwelling is called in the British tongue Dan-munith, in which sense also the Province next adjoyning in like respect is at this day named by the Britans Duffneit, that is to say, Low valleys. [...] But the Country of this nation is at this day divided into two parts, knowen by later names of Cornwall and Denshire, [...]|William Camden, ''Britannia''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html |title=William Camden, Britannia (1607) with an English translation by Philemon Holland – Danmonii |publisher=The University of Birmingham |access-date=30 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090316070243/http://www.philological.bham.ac.uk/cambrit/cornwalleng.html |archive-date=16 March 2009 |url-status=live}}</ref>}}

The term ''Devon'' is normally used for everyday purposes (e.g., "Devon County Council"), but ''Devonshire'' has continued to be used in the names of the "[[Devonshire and Dorset Regiment]]" (until 2007) and "[[The Devonshire Association]]". One erroneous theory is that the ''shire'' suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the [[Duke of Devonshire#Earls of Devonshire|Duke of Devonshire]], resident in [[Derbyshire]]. There are references to both {{lang|ang|Defnas}} and {{lang|ang|Defenasċīre}} in [[Anglo-Saxon]] texts from before 1000 CE (the former is a name for the "people of Devon" and the latter would mean 'Shire of the Devonians'),<ref>{{cite web |url=http://asc.jebbo.co.uk/a/a-L.html |title=Manuscript A: The Parker Chronicle |access-date=17 October 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726221228/http://asc.jebbo.co.uk/a/a-L.html |archive-date=26 July 2011 |url-status=live}}</ref> which translates to modern English as ''Devonshire''. The term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from {{lang|la|Dumnonia}} ([[Latin]]) to {{lang|ang|Defenasċīr}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Davies |first=Norman |title=The Isles: A History |url=https://archive.org/details/isleshistory00davi/page/n240 |url-access=limited |page=207 |year=2000 |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=0-333-69283-7}}</ref>