Etymology

Italy

I1T1A1L1Y4

Today it means: A country in Southern Europe. Official names: Italian Republic and Republic of Italy. Capital and largest city: Rome. Full definition →

Old English Italia ← Latin Italia ← Ancient Greek Ῑ̓ταλίᾱ (Ītalíā)
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The story

  1. Oscan𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú)bor.?
  2. Ancient GreekῙ̓ταλίᾱ (Ītalíā)
  3. LatinItalia
  4. Old EnglishItalia
  5. English todayItaly

Inherited from Old English Italia. Usually explained as a cognate of vitulus (“calf”), thus meaning "land of young bulls" in Oscan. In that case, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”). According to some ancient Greek authors, named after a king Italus or Italos, whose kingdom was on the peninsula. Doublet of Italia.

Words from the same roots

Proto-Indo-European*wet- all →

wether

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.