Dorchester

American  

[dawr-ches-ter, -chuh-ster] / ˈdɔrˌtʃɛs tər, -tʃə stər /

noun

1. a town in S Dorsetshire, in S England, on the Frome River: named Casterbridge in Thomas Hardy's novels.

---

Dorchester British  

/ ˈdɔːtʃɪstə /

noun

1. Latin name: Durnovaria.  a town in S England, administrative centre of Dorset: associated with Thomas Hardy, esp as the Casterbridge of his novels. Pop: 16 171 (2001)

---

Example Sentences

Dorchester Living, which owns the site has said "extensive environmental investigations and remediation had already been carried out in consultation with the EA."

From BBC • May 20, 2026

The major motorways that strike west from the capital bypass the county entirely; the trains from London Waterloo to the local station at Dorchester take a leisurely three hours.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 11, 2026

An FA Trophy game between Basingstoke and Dorchester was abandoned after a footballer suffered a serious injury to his neck.

From BBC • Oct. 26, 2025

She calls him Brooklyn, he calls her Beantown — although Wahlberg, born in Dorchester, is the most Bostonian of all these cops; it doesn’t take an expert to place that accent.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 17, 2025

That fall she returned, as usual, to Dorchester County, and brought out nine more slaves, conducting them all the way to St. Catharines, in Canada West, to the bone-biting cold, the snow-covered forests—and freedom.

From "Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad" by Ann Petry