Helvetii

English

Etymology

From Latin Helvetii, from a Celtic name. First element from Proto-Celtic *ɸelu, from Proto-Indo-European *pelh₁u- (“many”); second element said to be from Celtic root *ɸētu (“grassland, terrain”), which shares an origin with Old Irish íath (“grassland, territory”).

Proper noun

Helvetii pl

1. (historical) A Gallic tribe that occupied the plain of Switzerland.

Translations

Gallic tribe

• Czech: Helvéti m pl
• French: Helvètes (fr) m pl or f pl
• Georgian: ჰელვეტები (helveṭebi)
• German: Helvetier (de) m
• Italian: Elvezi m pl
• Latin: Helvetii m pl
• Spanish: Helvecios m pl

References

• Xavier Delamarre, Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise (Éditions Errance, 2003), pp. 162 and 168.

Latin

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /helˈu̯eː.ti.iː/, [hɛɫ̪ˈu̯eːt̪iː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /elˈvet.t͡si.i/, [elˈvɛt̪ː͡s̪iː]

Proper noun

Helvētiī m pl (genitive Helvētiōrum); second declension

1. A Gallic tribe of ancient Gaul

Declension

Second-declension noun, plural only.

Case	Plural
Nominative	Helvētiī
Genitive	Helvētiōrum
Dative	Helvētiīs
Accusative	Helvētiōs
Ablative	Helvētiīs
Vocative	Helvētiī

Adjective

Helvētiī

1. inflection of Helvētius:
   1. nominative/vocative masculine plural
   2. genitive masculine/neuter singular

References

• “Helvetii”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press