English / Map Form: Waterstein
Gaelic Form: Bhatairsteinn
Location: Skye, Inner Hebrides
Post Town: ISLE OF SKYE
Postcode area: IV55
County: Inverness-shire
Local Authority: Highland
Nearest Main Roads: B884
English / Map Form: Waterstein
Gaelic Form: Bhatairsteinn
Language Notes
ON vatna-steinn: ON gen. sg. of vatn, fem. ‘waterspout, stream’ + nom. sg. ON steinn, masc. ‘stone’ = ‘water-stone’Element Meaning
ON vatn ~ waterspout, stream; ON steinn ~ stone
Sources
| Waterstene | 1776 Mackenzie: North part |
| Vaterstein | 1820 Thomson |
| water stone or stone in the water vat, vatn | Forbes, 446 |
| Bhatar-stein (staoin) | Robertson |
Additional Information
This meaning is given in Cleasby-Vigfusson as ‘a font of stone’. The precise phonological development of this name from the ON form is unclear.