- (in the Middle Ages) a kingdom, later an earldom, in S England. Capital: Winchester.
- the fictional setting of the novels of Thomas Hardy, principally identifiable with Dorsetshire.
- an Anglo-Saxon kingdom in S and SW England that became the most powerful English kingdom by the 10th century a.d
- (in Thomas Hardy's works) the southwestern counties of England, esp Dorset
- (as modifier)
- Earl of Wessex See Edward (def. 2)
