Chester (placename element)

The English place-name Chester, and the suffixes -chester, -caster and -cester (old -ceaster), are commonly indications that the place is the site of a Roman castrum, meaning a military camp or fort (cf. Welsh caer), but it can also apply to the site of a pre-historic fort. Names ending in -cester are nearly always reduced to -ster when spoken, the exception being "Cirencester", which (commonly nowadays) is pronounced in full. However, names ending in -ster are not necessarily related, as the Irish province of Leinster, which comes from the tribe Laigin + Irish tír or Old Norse staðr, both meaning "land" or "territory". The pronunciation of names ending in -chester or -caster is regular.