Europe
- See also Old European hydronymy.
- Avon: Brythonic meaning "river"
- Avonbeg: Irish meaning "small river"
- Avonmore: Irish meaning "big river"
- Awbeg: Irish meaning "small river"
- River Boyne: Irish river goddess Boann, "white cow"
- Cam: Brythonic meaning "crooked"
- Clanrye: Irish meaning "harbour of the king"
- Clwyd: Welsh meaning "hurdle"
- Danube: Latin Danuvius, Dacian: Donaris, from Iranian (Scythian or Sarmatian) dānu- 'river', of Indo-European origin
- Argeş: from Greek or maybe Thracian arges = "bright"
- Bistriţa: Slavic "bistra" = "clear"
- Caraş: Turkish "kara" = "black", "dark"
- Drave: in Latin "Dravus", of Thracian or Illyrian origin, probably from PIE *dhreu = "to flow, to fall"
- Ialomiţa: Slavic "jalov" = "infertile"
- Prahova: Slavic "prag"="waterfall" or "prah"="dust"
- Siret: ancient Thracian "Seretos", probably from PIE *sreu = "to flow"
- Don (Aberdeenshire, Scotland): from Celtic Devona 'goddess'
- Emajõgi: Estonian meaning "mother river"
- Erne: Irish after the name of the mythical princess, Éirne
- Foyle: Irish meaning "estuary of the lip"
- Guadalquivir: from the Arabic wadi al-kabir, or "great river"
- Hayle: from Cornish Heyl "estuary"
- Kymijoki: Old Finnish for kymi, "huge river"
- Lagan: Irish meaning "river of the low-lying district"
- Llobregat: from Latin Rubricatus "red river"
- Mersey: Anglo Saxon meaning "boundary river"
- Narva: Veps after "rapid" or "falls"
- Quoile: Irish meaning "the narrow"
- Rhine: from the archaic German Rhine, which in turn comes from Middle High German: Rin, from the Proto-Indo-European root *reie- ("to flow, run").
- The Reno River in Italy shares the same etymology.
- River Severn: Latin "Sabrina" from an Old British river goddess of that name, becoming "Hafren" in modern Welsh
- River Somer
- Slaney: Irish meaning "river of health"
- Thames: Latin "Tamesis" from Brythonic meaning "dark river"
- The River Thame and River Tamar, and probably the three rivers called River Tame, have a similar etymological root
- Tyne: Brythonic meaning "river"
- Torne älv: Likely of Finnish origin, meaning "spear"
- Volga River: Slavic влага "vlaga", волога "vologa" meaning "wetness", "humidity"; alternatively, Proto-Uralic *valki- "white"; alternatively, Russian velikij "great"
- Wear: Brythonic meaning "water"
Read more about this topic: List Of River Name Etymologies
Famous quotes containing the word europe:
“Humanism, it seems, is almost impossible in America where material progress is part of the national romance whereas in Europe such progress is relished because it feels nice.”
—Paul West (b. 1930)
“What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one’s heroic ancestors. It’s astounding to me, for example, that so many people really seem to believe that the country was founded by a band of heroes who wanted to be free. That happens not to be true. What happened was that some people left Europe because they couldn’t stay there any longer and had to go someplace else to make it. They were hungry, they were poor, they were convicts.”
—James Baldwin (1924–1987)
“riding flatcars to Fresno,
Across the whole country
Steep towns, flat towns, even New York,
And oceans and Europe & libraries & galleries
And the factories they make rubbers in”
—Gary Snyder (b. 1930)