Visigothus

Forms

Visigothus m (genitive Visigothī, feminine Visigotha); second declension^[1] Cassiodorus has the first-declension plural Visigothae.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is Late Latin, perhaps meaning “West Goths”, which may have been Latinized from a Germanic source;^[4] Etymonline compares Old High German westan (“from the west”).^[4] According to other authorities, its first part is a Latinized tribal name,^[4] the ⟨Vesi⟩ whom Sidonius Apollinaris names.^[3] The name stands in contrast to the Ostrogoths.^[2][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cassiodorus uses the plural Visigothae for the Visigoths in his Variae, setting them against the Ostrogoths.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

Jordanes uses the second-declension form Visigothi,^[3] while Sidonius Apollinaris had called the same people Vesi, singular Vesus.^[3] English took the word over in the 17th century, and like the name of the Vandals it was later used of an uncivilized person.^[4]

Timeline

• c. 485–c. 580 AD – Cassiodorus uses Visigothae.^[2][3][5]
• 6th century AD – Jordanes uses Visigothi.^[3][5]
• 1640s – English borrows it as Visigoth.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (Late Latin) A Visigoth; in the plural, the Visigoths or West Goths, as opposed to the Ostrogoths.^[1][2][3]

Related words

• Ostrogothus
• Vēsī

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Georges, Karl Ernst (1913–1918), Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, 8th ed., ed. Heinrich Georges, Hannover; Leipzig: Hahn
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Gaffiot, Félix (2016), Dictionnaire latin-français, new ed. by Gérard Gréco et al. (Gaffiot 2016), online ed.
4. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
5. ^ a b Köbler, Gerhard (2010), Lateinisches Abkunfts- und Wirkungswörterbuch für Altertum und Mittelalter, online ed., koeblergerhard.de