Names and Etymology
The Danube was known in Latin as Danubius, Danuvius, Ister, in Ancient Greek as Ἴστρος (Istros). The Dacian/Thracian name was Τάναις/Donaris/Donaris (upper Danube) and Istros (lower Danube). Its Thraco-Phrygian name was Matoas, "the bringer of luck".
The name Dānuvius is presumably a loan from Celtic (Gaulish), or possibly Iranic. It is one of a number of river names derived from a Proto-Indo-European language word *dānu, apparently a term for "river", but possibly also of a primeval cosmic river, and of a Vedic river goddess (see Danu), perhaps from a root *dā "to flow/swift, rapid, violent, undisciplined." Other river names with the same etymology include Don, Donets, Dnieper and Dniestr. Dniepr (pre-Slavic Danapir by Gothic historian Jordanes) and Dniestr, from Danapris and Danastius, are presumed from Scythian Iranic *Dānu apara "posterior river" and *Dānu nazdya- "anterior river", respectively.
The Ancient Greek Istros was a borrowing from Thracian/Dacian meaning "strong, swift", akin to Sanskrit iṣiras "swift".
Since the Norman conquest of England, the English language has used the Latin-derived word Danube.
In the languages of the modern countries through which the river flows, it is:
- Bulgarian: Дунав (transliterated: Dunav)
- Croatian: Dunav
- German: Donau
- Hungarian: Duna
- Romanian: Dunărea
- Serbian: Дунав, Dunav, or
- Slovak: Dunaj
- Ukrainian: Дунай (transliterated: Dunai)
Read more about this topic: Danube
Famous quotes containing the words names and/or etymology:
“You shall see men you never heard of before, whose names you don’t know,... and many other wild and noble sights before night, such as they who sit in parlors never dream of.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“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)