Etymology

Pompeii

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Today it means: A ruined Roman town in Italy, destroyed by Vesuvius (a volcano) in AD 79. Full definition →

Latin Pompeiī ← Oscan *pompe
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The story

  1. Oscan · derived from*pompe“five”
  2. Latin · borrowed fromPompeiī
  3. English todayPompeii

Borrowed from Latin Pompeiī, of Oscan origin, from Oscan *pompe (“five”) + the Latin name-forming suffix -eiī, a reference to its five districts. Related to cinque, five, pimp (“five”), ponzu, punch (“beverage”), and sengi (“currency”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.