Meanings
nounoppidum (plural oppida)
plural oppida
- A large, defended Iron Age settlement associated with the Celtic La Tène culture.First known use 19th c.
‘Mount Ceasar’ was a major oppidum of the Bellovaci tribe and almost certainly the tribal capital: its geographical relationship to the nearby Roman capital of Beauvais is typical of a post-conquest tribal resettlement.
2013, Graham Robb, The Ancient Paths, Picador, published 2014, page 76
Origin
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁ep-
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁éps
- Proto-Indo-European*h₁épi
- Proto-Indo-European*ped-
- Proto-Indo-European*pédom
- Proto-Italic*op(i)pedom
- Latinoppidum
- Englishoppidum
Unadapted borrowing from Latin oppidum (“(chiefly walled or fortified) town”).
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
APA
oppidum. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oppidum
MLA
“oppidum.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oppidum. Accessed November 3, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “oppidum,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/oppidum.
Source: oppidum on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.