Inmodern Welsh orthography, caer is usually written as aprefix, although it was formerly—particularly in Latin—written as a separate word. TheBreton equivalent iskêr, which is present in many Breton placenames as the prefixKer-.
The term is thought to have derived from theBrittonic *kagro- and to be cognate withcae ("field, enclosed piece of land").[4] Although stonecastles were largely introduced toWales by the invadingNormans, "caer" was and remains used to describe the settlements around some of them as well. An example is theRoman fort atCaernarfon, formerly known in Welsh asCaer Seiont from its position on theSeiont; the laterEdwardiancastle and its community were distinguished asCaer yn Arfon ("fort in Arfon", the latter being a district name (Cantref Arfon) from "ar Fôn", "(land) opposite Môn orAnglesey").[2] However, the modern names of the Roman fort and Edwardian castle themselves are nowSegontiwm orCastell Caernarfon, while the communities carry on the namecaer.
Note that the term is not believed to be related to theIrishcathair ("city"), which is instead derived fromProto-Celtic *katrixs, *catarax ("fortification").[5][6]
Gildas'saccount of theSaxon invasions of Britain claimed that there were 28 fortified Roman cities (Latin:civitas) on the island, without listing them.[8] TheHistory of the Britons traditionally attributed toNennius includes a list of the 28, all of which are called "caer".[7][12] Controversy exists over whether this list includes only Roman cities or a mixture of Roman cities and non-Roman settlements.[13] Some of the place names that have been proposed include:
The Cumbric language was spoken in Northern England until the Medieval era in which the elementcaer ("fort") was used in naming places.[34] It also appears in Cornish place-names asKer-.[34]
Caermote, Cumberland (Caermollt, "Fort of the wether")[34]
Cumbric andPictish were Brittonic languages spoken in Scotland until around the 12th century, andcaer ("fort") was a place-naming element in both languages.[34][36]
^More precisely, these English placename elements derive fromLatincastrum ("fortified post") and its plural formcastra ("military camp"), making them the more precise equivalent of the Welshcastell.
^Henry of Huntington previously ascribed it toLincoln, which was followed until the 19th century, whenBradley placed it atLichfield,[22] thinking it to be the RomanLetocetum. Instead, excavations have shown that Letocetum was located at nearbyWall instead.[10]
^Both Ussher and Ford use the transcriptionLundein; with regard to Mommsen, note the similarity withLindum, the Roman name for present-dayLincoln, and the genericname *Lindon, "lake".
^Coit is Welsh for "woods" or "forest".Ford takes the name as a single construction "Caer-Pensa-Uel-Coyt" ("FortPenselwood"), whileMommsen andUssher treatvel as theLatin word foror: "Cair Pensaor Coyt".[9][11]
^Jones, Gwilym; Roberts, Tomos (1996).Enwau Lleoedd Môn : The Place-Names of Anglesey. Bangor, Wales: University of Wales Press. p. 122.ISBN0-904567-71-0.
