Visigoth
English edit
Etymology edit
Borrowed from Late Latin Visigothus, from Gothic. According to Mallory & Adams, possibly a tribal name derived from Proto-Germanic *wesuz (reflected in personal names such as Old High German *wisu), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wésus (“good, excellent”). If so, related to Proto-Celtic *wesus (found in personal names), the Italic goddess Vesuna, and Sanskrit वसु (vasu, “good, excellent”).
The term was coined by Cassiodorus under the misapprehension that it meant "west Goths".
Pronunciation edit
Noun edit
Visigoth (plural Visigoths)
- Any member of an ancient East Germanic tribe, one branch of the Goths (the Ostrogoths being the other), which participated in several wars with Rome and established a kingdom with Toulouse for its capital.
Derived terms edit
Related terms edit
Translations edit
member of an East Germanic tribe
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References edit
- Mallory & Adams (2006): The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World