lexington
lexington Lexical Profile
• noun
American The second-largest city in Kentucky, United States, located in the Bluegrass region and internationally renowned for its prominent role in the thoroughbred horse breeding and racing industry.
"Many equine enthusiasts travel to Lexington each year to attend prestigious horse sales and championship races."
American A historic town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, famous as the site of the first military engagements of the American Revolutionary War on April 19, 1775.
"The school trip included a visit to the battle green in Lexington where the 'shot heard 'round the world' was fired."
Word Nuance & Usage
In American contexts, the name often requires contextual disambiguation: historically, it almost universally refers to the town in Massachusetts, while in modern agricultural, equine, or demographic contexts, it refers to the larger city in Kentucky.
Word Origin & Etymology
Derived from the English place name Lexington (historically Lexinton) in Nottinghamshire, which comes from the Old English 'Leaxingatūn', meaning 'farmstead of the people of Leaxa'.
Usage Trend
Historical frequency of usage in published text.