One of the earliest mentions of Hoorn is found in a letter which states that in 1303, a merchant from Bruges was imprisoned in West Friesland near a place called "Hornicwed". This phrase – although it is uncertain whether it actually refers to Hoorn – is a compound of the Middle Dutch words "hornic", meaning "corner", and "wed", meaning "shallow water". It is likely that the name Hoorn was indeed derived from Middle Dutch "hornic", or simply "horn", and that the city was named for its location in a sharp bight of (the former) Lake Flevo.