Somerset Look up Somerset at Dictionary.com
9c., Sumor sæton, from Old English sumorsæta, short for *sumorton sæte "the people who live at (or depend upon) Somerton," a settlement attested from 8c. (Sumertone), literally "summer settlement." In 12c. it begins to be clearly meant as a place-name (Sumersetescir) not a collective name for a set of people.