Dictionary

Roswell en · PROPN

Pronunciation

• /ˈɹɒzˌwɛl/

Etymology

Metathesized from Middle English Roweshill, from a contraction of either the Old English personal name Hrōþwulf or its Norman cognate Rolf, Rouf, Rou (in the genitive case, adding -es) + Old English hyll (“hill”).

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A surname.
2. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ A city in Fulton County, Georgia.
3. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ An unincorporated community in Canyon County, Idaho.
4. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Chaves County, New Mexico, known for conspiracy theories that its Roswell Army Air Field has recovered UFOs and extraterrestrials.
   • (1997) So go on with your life / Forget that Roswell crap / Show love to the black suit / 'Cuz that's the Men In … Black "Men in Black" by Will Smith (1997)
5. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ A city, the county seat of Chaves County, New Mexico, known for conspiracy theories that its Roswell Army Air Field has recovered UFOs and extraterrestrials. ▸ The most significant ufological event of a region.
   • Kazantsev’s story was for some unaccountable reason taken seriously in the West, leading to some enthusiasts referring to Tunguska as the Russian Roswell. 2007, Rodney Castleden, Natural Disasters That Changed the World, Book Sales, page 272:
   • Dubbed “Mexico’s Roswell,” the mid-air collision near Coyame of an airplane and a UFO has been the subject of a major documentary for the History Channel’s UFO Hunters series in 2008, and numerous articles in newspapers, magazines, and Websites. 2008, Noe Torres, Ruben Uriarte, Mexico's Roswell: The Chihuahua UFO Crash, Lulu.com, page 3:
   • Among the cases he examined was an incident that has come to be known as England’s Roswell. 1998, Jim Wilson, “Six Unexplainable Encounters”, in Popular Mechanics, Hearst Magazines, page 66:
6. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ A village in Tuscarawas County, Ohio.
7. (countable, uncountable) A place in the United States: ▸ A census-designated place in Miner County, South Dakota.

Forms

Deriveds

Roswellian

Translations (1)

ja ロズウェル (place name)