Lugdunum - Name

Name

The Roman city was originally founded as Colonia Copia Felix Munatia, a name invoking prosperity and the blessing of the gods. The city became increasingly referred to as Lugdunum (and occasionally Lugudunum) by the end of the 1st century AD.

The etymology of Lugdunum is a latinization of the Gaulish place name Lugodunon. Gaulish was the predominant language of the region when conquered by the Romans. While dunon means hill fort, the source of Lug is uncertain. The most commonly offered meaning is the Celtic god named Lug, whose messenger was the crow (lugus), and who was associated with the cock (rooster), ultimately to become the symbol of France. Most references to Mercurius in Gaul really refer to Lug, as he was the Celtic god that the Romans considered to be Mercury (see interpretatio graeca for more about this practice). Lug was popular in Ireland and Britain, but there is no evidence of his cult or worship in Lugdunum, except for the apparent use of crows as an early symbol of the city. An alternative derivation is that lug refers to the Celtic word for light (a cognate of Latin lux and English light), with roughly the same meaning as Clermont (clarus mons). During the Middle Ages, Lugdunum was transformed to Lyon by natural sound change.