The Etymology of Venice
Venice's name is older than Venice itself.βββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββββ The lagoon city was founded only in the 5th and 6th centuries CE, when mainland refugees fled the collapse of Roman authority for the safety of the lagoon islands. But it inherited its name from 'Venetia,' the Roman name for the surrounding region β itself named for the Veneti, a pre-Roman Italic people who had lived there for at least a millennium before Rome arrived. The deeper origin of 'Veneti' is genuinely disputed. The most attractive proposal connects it to a Proto-Indo-European root '*wen-' (to desire, to love), the same root behind Latin 'venus' (charm, beauty) and the goddess Venus, but lexicographers split on whether the link is real or coincidental. We mark it disputed. The city, the region (Veneto), and possibly the goddess all sit at the same etymological junction.