Φίννος

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Ancient Greek

[edit]
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia
English Wikipedia has an article on:
Wikipedia

Etymology

[edit]

Probably from Proto-Germanic *finnaz. Compare Old Norse Finnr (a Sami), Latin Fenni. The name as used by Tacitus is unclear about whom it actually describes. More at Fenni.

Pronunciation

[edit]
 

Noun

[edit]

Φῐ́ννος (Phínnosm (genitive Φῐ́ννου); second declension

  1. one of the Fenni or Phinnoi

Usage notes

[edit]

The Latin Fennus (as mentioned by Tacitus) and the Ancient Greek term Φίννος (Phínnos) (as mentioned by Ptolemy) have ambiguous ancient meanings. The Finnish and broader Baltic Finnic peoples as they are known today were not well documented at the time, and it is unlikely that Φίννος (Phínnos) refers to them specifically. Rather, the term more likely referred to the Sami people (who at the time occupied most of what is now Finland), or more vaguely to far northern Europeans in general.

However, Finns as an ethnicity became far better documented (especially in Viking chronicles) during the Middle Ages. Today, the modern Greek term Φίννος (Fínnos) specifically refers to the Finnish people.

Inflection

[edit]

Descendants

[edit]
  • Greek: Φίννος (Fínnos)

References

[edit]
  • Tacitus G.45-6
  • Oxford English Dictionary, 1884–1928, and First Supplement, 1933.
  • Ptolemy II.11 and III.5
  • Ptolemy II.11 and III.5

Further reading

[edit]