Londinium

English

Proper noun

Londinium

1. an ancient settlement in the area of modern London

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Latin

Etymology

The name Londīnium is thought to be pre-Roman (and possibly pre-Celtic) in origin, but there is no consensus on what it means. It was common practice for Romans to adopt native names for new settlements. A common theory is that it derives from a hypothetical Celtic placename *Londinion which was probably derived from the personal name *Londinos, from the word *lond (“wild”). Or else, from a hydronym involving *plew-, "to flow".

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /lonˈdiː.ni.um/, [ɫ̪ɔn̪ˈd̪iːniʊ̃ˑ]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /lonˈdi.ni.um/, [lon̪ˈd̪iːnium]

Proper noun

Londīnium n sg (genitive Londīniī or Londīnī); second declension

1. London

Declension

Second-declension noun (neuter), with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Londīnium
Genitive	Londīniī Londīnī1
Dative	Londīniō
Accusative	Londīnium
Ablative	Londīniō
Vocative	Londīnium
Locative	Londīniī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Derived terms

• Londīniensis

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: Λονδίνιον (Londínion)
• English: London
• German: London

References

• “Londinium”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Londinium in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.