Manchester
The name Manchester originates from the Latin name "Mamucium" or its variant "Mancunium" and the citizens are still referred to as Mancunians (). These are generally thought to represent a Latinisation of an original Brittonic name, either from "mamm-" ("breast", in reference to a "breast-like hill") or from "mamma" ("mother", in reference to a local river goddess). Both meanings are preserved in Insular Celtic languages, such as "mam" meaning "breast" in Irish and "mother" in Welsh. The suffix -chester is a survival of Old English "ceaster" and from that "castra" in latin for camp or settlement ("fort; fortified town").
Science and engineering in Manchester
Manchester is one of the principal cities of the United Kingdom, gaining city status in 1853, thus becoming the first new city in over 300 years since Bristol in 1542. Often regarded as the first industrialised city, Manchester was a city built by the Industrial Revolution and had little pre-medieval history to speak of. Manchester had a population of 10,000 in 1717, but by 1911 it had burgeoned to 2.3 million.