Visigoth
/ˈvɪz.ɪ.ɡɒθ/ noun
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 Any member of an ancient East Germanic tribe, one branch of the Goths (the Ostrogoths being the other), which participated in several wars with Rome and established a kingdom with Toulouse for its capital.
- 2 a member of the western group of Goths who sacked Rome and created a kingdom in present-day Spain and southern France wordnet
Antonyms
All antonymsExample
More examples"The Visigoth race, conqueror of the Spains, had subjugated the entire Peninsula for over a century."
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin Visigothus, from Gothic. According to Mallory & Adams, possibly a tribal name derived from Proto-Germanic *wesuz (reflected in personal names such as Old High German *wisu), from Proto-Indo-European *h₁wésus (“good, excellent”). If so, related to Proto-Celtic *wesus (found in personal names), the Italic goddess Vesuna, and Sanskrit वसु (vasu, “good, excellent”). The term was coined by Cassiodorus under the misapprehension that it meant "west Goths".