Names and Etymology
The Danube was known in Latin as Danubius, Danuvius, Ister, in Ancient Greek as Ἴστρος (Istros). The Dacian/Thracian name was Τάναις/Donaris/Donaris (upper Danube) and Istros (lower Danube). Its Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, "the bringer of luck".
The name Dānuvius is presumably a loan from Celtic (Gaulish), or possibly Iranic. It is one of a number of river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European language word *dānu, apparently a term for "river", but possibly also of a primeval cosmic river, and of a Vedic river goddess (see Danu), perhaps from a root *dā "to flow/swift, rapid, violent, undisciplined." Other river names with the same etymology include Don, Donets, Dnieper and Dniestr. Dniepr (pre-Slavic Danapir by Gothic historian Jordanes) and Dniestr, from Danapris and Danastius, are presumed from Scythian Iranic *Dānu apara "posterior river" and *Dānu nazdya- "anterior river", respectively.
The Ancient Greek Istros was a borrowing from Thracian/Dacian meaning "strong, swift", akin to Sanskrit iṣiras "swift".
Since the Norman conquest of England, the English language has used the Latin-derived word Danube.
In the languages of the modern countries through which the river flows, it is:
- Bulgarian: Дунав (transliterated: Dunav)
- Croatian: Dunav
- German: Donau
- Hungarian: Duna
- Romanian: Dunărea
- Serbian: Дунав, Dunav, or
- Slovak: Dunaj
- Ukrainian: Дунай (transliterated: Dunai)
- Turkish: Tuna
Read more about this topic: Danubian
Famous quotes containing the words names and/or etymology:
“It was a poetic recreation to watch those distant sails steering for half-fabulous ports, whose very names are a mysterious music to our ears.... It is remarkable that men do not sail the sea with more expectation. Nothing was ever accomplished in a prosaic mood.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)