(Sax. holmus, insula umnica), denotes an isle or fenny ground, according to Bede, or a river island. And where any place is called by that name, and this syllable is joined with any other in the names of places, it signifies a place surrounded with water, as the Flatholmes and Stepholmes in the Severn near Bristol; but if the situation of the place is not near the water, it may then signify a hilly place; holm in Saxon signifying also "a hill or cliff."