Bononia

Latin

Alternative forms

Bolōnia (Late Latin)

Etymology

From the Celtic word for “settlement”; compare Gaulish *bona (“foundation, fortress”) << Proto-Celtic *bonus (“foundation”) and Boii, the Latin name of the Gaulish people who occupied the region c. 4th century BC.

Pronunciation

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): [bɔˈnoː.ni.a]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): [boˈnɔː.ni.a]

Proper noun

Bonōnia f sg (genitive Bonōniae); first declension

Bologna, Italy
Boulogne-sur-Mer, France

Declension

First-declension noun, with locative, singular only.

	singular
nominative	Bonōnia
genitive	Bonōniae
dative	Bonōniae
accusative	Bonōniam
ablative	Bonōniā
vocative	Bonōnia
locative	Bonōniae

Descendants

Emilian: Bulåggna
Old French: Boloigne, Bouloigne
- French: Bologne, Boulogne
- Picard: Boulonne
- → Middle English: Boloyne, Boleyne, Boloigne
  - English: Boulogne (pronunciation remodelled after modern French); Boleyn
  - → Middle Welsh: Bwlwyn
Italian: Bologna
Sicilian: Bulogna
→⇒ English: bononian
→? Polish: Bolonia
→ Spanish: Bolonia

References

“Bononia”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
Bononia in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.