Volcae

English

Noun

Volcae pl (plural only)

  1. (historical) A Gallic tribal confederation that invaded Macedonia c. 270 BC and fought the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC.

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Celtic *wolkos (“hawk”) (cf. the personal names Gaulish Catuvolcus and Welsh Cadwalch (“Battle-hawk”)), or alternatively (but less likely[1]) Proto-Celtic *ulkʷos (“wolf”), in turn from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos, as Caesar described the Celts having fought with huge dogs.[2]

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Volcae m pl (genitive Volcārum); first declension

  1. (ancient history) A Gallic tribal confederation of Gallia Narbonensis whose chief towns were Nemausus and Tolosa.

Declension

First-declension noun, plural only.

Case Plural
Nominative Volcae
Genitive Volcārum
Dative Volcīs
Accusative Volcās
Ablative Volcīs
Vocative Volcae

References
  • “Volcae”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  • Volcae in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
  • “Volcae”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly
  1. Patrizia de Bernardo (2008), "Linguistically Celtic Ethnonyms: towards a classification", in: Juan Luís García Alonso (ed.), Celtic and Other Languages in Ancient Europe, Salamanca: Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, p. 103
  2. Caesar, Commentarii de Bello Gallico
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