# Halifax

> English word · Proper noun · IPA /ˈhæl.ɪˌfæks/ · frequency rank #13,167

## Definitions
1. An industrial town in West Yorkshire, England, 20km south-west of Leeds.
2. A civil parish of Prince County, Prince Edward Island, Canada.
3. A regional municipality, the capital city of Nova Scotia, Canada.
4. A small town, the county seat of Halifax County, North Carolina, United States.
5. A town, the county seat of Halifax County, Virginia, United States.
6. An earldom in the Peerage of Great Britain.

## Etymology
From Old English halh-ġefeaxe (literally “grassy corner”), compounded from halh + ġefeaxe. Folk etymology suggests Old English hāliġfeax (literally “holy hair”), as compounded from hāliġ + feax, from a local legend that the town is said to have received the name from the fact that the hair of a murdered virgin was hung up on a tree in the neighborhood, which became a resort of pilgrims. Compare also Fairfax.
The capital city of Nova Scotia is named after statesman George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (1716–1771).
The civil parish is also named after the 2nd Earl of Halifax. Coined by British-Dutch surveyor Samuel Holland.

## Easily confused with
- **Haifa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/haifa-vs-halifax)

## Common misspellings (10)
`ahlifax`, `hailfax`, `halfiax`, `haliafx`, `halifaxx`, `haliffax`, `halifxa`, `hallifax`, `hhalifax`, `hlaifax`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/halifax