Editing Alaunus (section)

== Name ==
The Gaulish [[theonym]] ''Alaunos'' stems from a [[Proto-Celtic]] form reconstructed as *''Alamnos''. The etymology remains uncertain. It has been traditionally derived from the root *''al''- ('feed, raise, nurture'), and compared with the Latin ''alumnus'' ('nursling') and with names of rivers such as ''Almus'' in [[Moesia]], ''[[River Yealm|Yealm]]'' (*''Almii'') in England, or ''[[Alme (river)|Alme]]'' in [[Westphalia]]. *''Alamnos'' could thus  be translated as 'the Nourishing One'.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=37}}{{Sfn|Matasović|2009|p=30|ps=: "The Gaul. toponym ''Alaunos'' and hydronym ''Alauna'' are usually derived from the same root, but like most etymologies of toponomastic elements, this is also uncertain."}}

A Gallic tribe named ''[[Alauni]]'' (Αλαυνοί) is also attested in [[Noricum]], and linguist [[Xavier Delamarre]] has argued that the root ''alǝ''-, meaning 'to wander', "would suit river names as much as ethnic ones". In this view, *''Alamnos'' may be compared with the Celtic stem *''alamo''- ('herd'; cf. Old Irish ''alam'', Welsh ''alaf''), and the [[ethnonym]] ''Alauni'' rendered as the 'errants' or the 'nomads', contrasting with the name of the ''Anauni'' ('the Staying Ones').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|p=37}}