Visigoth

Meaning

Noun

• 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.

Origin

• 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 ("good, excellent").
• The term was coined by Cassiodorus under the misapprehension that it meant "west Goths".