Etymology
The endonym Helvetii may be derived from the root elw that is seen in Welsh, meaning "gain" or "profit", and the Old Irish prefix il-, meaning "many" or "multiple". The name has also been interpreted as meaning "rich in land", from elu-, "numerous", and *etu-, "terrain, grassland".
The name of the national personification of Switzerland, Helvetia, and the country's Neo-Latin name, Confoederatio Helvetica, are both derived from the name of the Helvetii.
Read more about this topic: Helvetii
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)