Londinium - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

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Unadapted borrowing from Latin Londinium. Doublet of London.

(UK) IPA^(key): /lʌnˈdɪn.ɪ.əm/^[1]
(US) IPA^(key): /lʌnˈdɪn.i.əm/

Londinium

(historical) A city in Britannia, Roman Empire: An ancient settlement in the area of modern London.
(poetic) Synonym of modern London: A city in England, United Kingdom

^ “Londinium”, in Collins English Dictionary.

Lundinium, Londonium, Lundonium, Londonum, Londinum (Late and Medieval Latin)
Lundonia, Londonia, Lundoniae (Medieval Latin, as sg. or pl.)

Uncertain, but likely from Proto-Celtic *Londinyom (“place that floods”), from Proto-Indo-European *lendʰ- (“heath; wild land”) + *-injo-, a suffix forming specific nouns and found in other Romano-Celtic placenames. Cognate to Proto-Celtic *landā (“low-lying land”), whence Old Irish land, Welsh llan, as well as *londos (“subduing > fierce”, adj.), whence Old Irish lond.^[1]

Details

An earlier, more difficult proposal derives it from *Φlowonidonyom, morphologically adapted from a pre-Celtic Indo-European substrate word meaning something like “Boat River, Unfordable River” or “Flooding-River” and made up of Proto-Indo-European *plew- (“to flow”) and a disputed *neyd- (“to flow”).^[2]

Forms in -don- could be artificial Latinizations modelled after e.g. Old English Wreocen < Latin Viroconium (modern Wroxeter). Appears as Middle Welsh Llundein, Old English Lunden, which may not continue the Classical Latin form, but may continue Late British Latin *Lundeinju if the medial -i- of the original word was short.^[1] Cf. Etymology of London.

(Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /lonˈdi.ni.um/, [ɫ̪ɔn̪ˈd̪ɪniʊ̃ˑ]
(modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /lonˈdi.ni.um/, [lon̪ˈd̪iːnium]
Note: the length of the medial /i/ is unattested, but is likely to have been short.

Londinium n sg (genitive Londiniī or Londinī); second declension

(Classical Latin) Londinium (a city in Britannia, Roman Empire; modern London)
(Medieval Latin, New Latin) London (the capital city of the United Kingdom; capital city of England)

Second-declension noun (neuter), with locative, singular only.

Case	Singular
Nominative	Londinium
Genitive	Londiniī Londinī¹
Dative	Londiniō
Accusative	Londinium
Ablative	Londiniō
Vocative	Londinium
Locative	Londiniī

¹Found in older Latin (until the Augustan Age).

Londiniēnsis

→ Ancient Greek: Λονδίνιον (Londínion)
→ Old English: Lunden
- Middle English: Lunden, London
  - English: London
    - Norwegian Bokmål: London
- → Latin: Lundonia
→ English: Londinium
→ German: London
Sicilian: Lònnira

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 Peter Schrijver (2013) Language Contact and the Origins of the Germanic Languages‎^[1], Routledge, →ISBN, pages 54-57
^ Richard Coates (1998) “A New Explanation of the Name of London”, in Transactions of the Philological Society‎^[2], volume 96, number 2, →DOI, →ISSN, pages 203–229

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