Etymograph

English

Thames

Thames comes from Middle English Temse, and goes back to Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis.

  1. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*Tamesisreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CETamesis
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150Temes
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Temse
  5. EnglishtodayThames

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Proto-Brythonicc. 100 BCE–500 CE*Tamesisreconstructed
  2. Latinc. 75 BCE–200 CETamesis
  3. Old Englishc. 450–1150Temes
  4. Middle Englishc. 1150–1500Temse
  5. EnglishtodayThames

The story

The Latin name is from Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis, from Proto-Celtic *tamesās (“river, waters”, literally “darkness”), a masculine ā-stem of *tames, Proto-Indo-European *tm̥Hes-, zero-grade of *témHes-, *témHos- (‘darkness’), an s-stem from the root *temH- (‘dark’). A parallel in Proto-Celtic of "dark, darkness" taking on the figurative meaning of "water" can also be found in Proto-Celtic *dubros (‘water, dark’), from Proto-Indo-European *dʰubrós (‘dark’), yielding Welsh dŵr (‘water’), Irish dobhar (‘water, sea, dark, gloomy’).

Every English word from Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis

Today it means

name A river in southern England, flowing 336 km (209 mi.) from Gloucestershire, through Wiltshire, Oxfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Surrey and Greater London, and between Essex and Kent to the Thames Estuary and North Sea.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Brythonic *Tamesis / Thames

Shirt and support for this word