Editing Avignon (section)

== Toponymy ==
The earliest forms of the name were reported by the Greeks:{{sfn|Rostaing|1994|p=30}} {{lang|grc|Аὐενιὼν}} ''Aueniṑn'' (Stephen of Byzantium, Strabo, IV, 1, 11) and {{lang|grc|Άουεννίων}} ''Aouenníōn'' (Ptolemy II, x).

The Roman name ''Avennĭo Cavărum'' (Mela, II, 575, Pliny III, 36), i.e. "Avignon of Cavares", accurately shows that Avignon was one of the three cities of the Celtic-Ligurian tribe of [[Cavares]], along with [[Cavaillon]] and [[Orange, Vaucluse|Orange]].

The current name dates to a pre-Indo-European{{sfn|Rostaing|1994|p=30}} or pre-Latin{{sfn|Dauzat|Rostaing|1963|p=1689}} theme ''ab-ên'' with the suffix ''-i-ōn(e)''.{{sfn|Rostaing|1994|p=30}}{{sfn|Dauzat|Rostaing|1963|p=1689}} This theme would be a [[hydronym]]—i.e. a name linked to the river (Rhône), but perhaps also an oronym of terrain (the ''Rocher des Doms'').

The ''Auenion'' of the 1st century BC was Latinized to ''Avennĭo'' (or ''Avēnĭo''), ''-ōnis'' in the 1st century and is written ''Avinhon'' in classic [[Occitan language|Occitan]] spelling<ref>{{cite book |last=Bourret |first=Robert |title=French-Occitan Dictionary |publisher=Éd. Lacour |year=1999 |location=Nîmes |page=59 |language=fr,oc}}</ref> or ''Avignoun'' in [[Mistralian norm|Mistralian spelling]].{{sfn|Xavier de Fourvière|Rupert|1902|p=[https://archive.org/stream/loupichottresord00xaviuoft#page/n88/mode/1up 62]}} The inhabitants of the commune are called ''avinhonencs'' or ''avignounen'' in both standard Occitan and [[Provençal dialect]].