Brewer's: Watling Street

A road extending east and west across South Britain. Beginning at Dover, it ran through Canterbury to London, and thence to Cardigan. The word is a corruption of Vitellina strata, the paved road of Vitellius, called by the Britons Guetalin. Poetically the “Milky Way” has been called the Watling Street of the sky.

“Secunda via principalis dicitur Wateling-streate, tendens ab euro-austro in zephyrum septentrionalem. Incipit ... a Dovaria ... usque Cardigan.” —Leland.

Related Content Allusions Foreign Words and Phrases Latin and Greek Word Elements Names: Their Origins and Meanings Old Testament Names Mythology Ancient Greek Literature & Mythology The Bible (King James version) The Koran (translation by J. M. Rodwell) Shakespeare's Plays Tales from Shakespeare (Charles and Mary Lamb) Frequently Misspelled Words Frequently Mispronounced Words Easily Confused Words Writing & Language