Sequana

Latin

Etymology

Of Celtic origin, the river name is from Gaulish Sequana, a water goddess later incorporated into Gallo-Roman culture. The name's origin is uncertain, but possibly from Proto-Indo-European *seykʷ- (“to pour, spill, trickle”).[1] However, since Gaulish was largely a P-Celtic language, the q may not represent Indo-European -kʷ- but rather an original form like *Sek-ooana-. Therefore, the Gaulish name could be from a pre-Celtic hydronym.[2]

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Sēquana f sg or m sg (genitive Sēquanae); first declension

  1. The Seine (a major river in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, Grand Est, Île-de-France and Normandy regions, France)

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

singular
nominative Sēquana
genitive Sēquanae
dative Sēquanae
accusative Sēquanam
ablative Sēquanā
vocative Sēquana

Descendants

  • Late Latin: Sēcona, Sēgona

References

  1. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959) “893-94”, in Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 3, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, pages 893-94
  2. ^ Pierre-Yves Lambert, La langue gauloise, éditions Errance 1994, p. 131.

Further reading

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