Editing Celts (section)

==Names and terminology==
[[File:Galician Celtic Stele - Estela Galaica.jpg|thumb|Celto-Latin [[stele]] from [[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], 2nd century, referring to "<small>[[Celtici Supertamarici|CELTICA SUPERTAM(''arica'')]]</small>"]]
{{Main|Names of the Celts}}

===Ancient===
The first recorded use of the name 'Celts' – as ''{{lang|grc|Κελτοί}}'' ({{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}}) in [[Ancient Greek]] – was by Greek geographer [[Hecataeus of Miletus]] in 517 BC,<ref>Sarunas Milisauskas, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=31LFIITb3LUC&pg=PA363 |title=European prehistory: a survey |page=363 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media|Springer]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-306-47257-2 |date=2002}}</ref> when writing about a people living near [[Massilia]] (modern [[Marseille]]), southern [[Gaul]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Rankin |first=H. David |title=Celts and the Classical World |date=1998 |pages=1–2 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-415-15090-3 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=fdqk4vXqntgC&q=%22celts%22}}</ref> In the fifth century BC, [[Herodotus]] referred to {{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}} living around the [[source of the Danube]] and in the far west of Europe.<ref>Herodotus, ''The Histories'', 2.33; 4.49.</ref> The etymology of {{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}} is unclear. Possible roots include [[Proto-Indo-European language|Indo-European]] *''kʲel'' 'to hide' (seen also in Old Irish {{lang|sga|ceilid}}, and Modern Welsh {{lang|cy|celu}}), *''kʲel'' 'to heat' or *''kel'' 'to impel'.<ref>John T. Koch (ed.), ''Celtic Culture: a historical encyclopedia''. 5 vols. 2006. Santa Barbara, California: ABC-CLIO, p. 371.</ref> It may come from the [[Proto-Celtic language|Celtic language]]. Linguist Kim McCone supports this view and notes that ''Celt-'' is found in the names of several ancient Gauls such as Celtillus, father of [[Vercingetorix]]. He suggests it meant the people or descendants of "the hidden one", noting the Gauls claimed descent from an underworld god (according to ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]''), and linking it with the Germanic ''[[Hel (location)|Hel]]''.<ref name="McCone2013">McCone, Kim (2013). "The Celts: questions of nomenclature and identity", in ''Ireland and its Contacts''. [[University of Lausanne]]. pp.21–27</ref> Others view it as a name coined by Greeks; among them linguist [[Patrizia de Bernardo Stempel]], who suggests it meant "the tall ones".<ref>P. De Bernardo Stempel 2008. "Linguistically Celtic ethnonyms: towards a classification", in ''Celtic and Other Languages in Ancient Europe'', J. L. García Alonso (ed.), 101–18. Ediciones Universidad Salamanca.</ref>

In the first century BC, Roman leader [[Julius Caesar]] reported that the [[Gauls]] called themselves 'Celts', {{langx|la|Celtae}}, in [[Gaulish language|their own tongue]].<ref>[[Julius Caesar]], ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'' [[s:Commentaries on the Gallic War/Book 1#1|1.1]]: "All Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae live, another in which the Aquitani live, and the third are those who in their own tongue are called {{lang|la|Celtae}}, in our language {{lang|la|Galli}}."</ref> Thus whether it was given to them by others or not, it was used by the Celts themselves. Greek geographer [[Strabo]], writing about Gaul towards the end of the first century BC, refers to the "race which is now called both ''Gallic'' and ''Galatic''", though he also uses ''Celtica'' as another name for Gaul. He reports Celtic peoples in [[Iberian Peninsula|Iberia]] too, calling them ''[[Celtiberians|Celtiberi]]'' and ''[[Celtici]]''.<ref>Strabo, ''Geography'', 3.1.3; 3.1.6; 3.2.2; 3.2.15; 4.4.2.</ref> [[Pliny the Elder]] noted the use of ''Celtici'' in [[Lusitania]] as a tribal surname,<ref>[[Pliny the Elder]], ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|The Natural History]]'' [[s:Lusitania/Book 4#35|21]]: "the Mirobrigenses, surnamed Celtici" ("Mirobrigenses qui Celtici cognominantur").</ref> which [[Epigraphy|epigraphic]] findings have confirmed.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://revistas.ucm.es/est/11326875/articulos/HIEP0101110006A.PDF |title=España |access-date=9 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100402141724/http://revistas.ucm.es/est/11326875/articulos/HIEP0101110006A.PDF |archive-date=2 April 2010}}</ref><ref>Fernando De Almeida, ''Breve noticia sobre o santuário campestre romano de Miróbriga dos Celticos (Portugal)'': D(IS) M(ANIBUS) S(ACRUM) / C(AIUS) PORCIUS SEVE/RUS MIROBRIGEN(SIS) / CELT(ICUS) ANN(ORUM) LX / H(IC) S(ITUS) E(ST) S(IT) T(IBI) T(ERRA) L(EVIS).</ref>

A Latin name for the Gauls, ''{{lang|la|Galli}}'' ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}), may come from a Celtic ethnic name, perhaps borrowed into Latin during the [[Cisalpine Gaul|Celtic expansion into Italy]] from the early fifth century BC. Its root may be [[Proto-Celtic language|Proto-Celtic]] ''*galno'', meaning "power, strength" (whence [[Old Irish]] ''gal'' "boldness, ferocity", Welsh ''gallu'' "to be able, power"). The Greek name ''[[Galatians (people)|Γαλάται]]'' ({{transliteration|grc|''Galatai''}}, Latinized ''Galatae'') most likely has the same origin, referring to the Gauls who [[Celtic settlement of Southeast Europe|invaded southeast Europe]] and settled in [[Galatia]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n837 794]–95}}</ref> The suffix ''-atai'' might be a Greek inflection.<ref>{{cite book |last=Spencer and Zwicky |first=Andrew and Arnold M |title=The handbook of morphology |date=1998 |publisher=[[Blackwell Publishers]] |isbn=978-0-631-18544-4 |page=148}}</ref> Linguist Kim McCone suggests it comes from Proto-Celtic ''*galatis'' ("ferocious, furious"), and was not originally an ethnic name but a name for [[Kóryos|young warrior bands]]. He says "If the Gauls' initial impact on the Mediterranean world was primarily a military one typically involving fierce young ''*galatīs'', it would have been natural for the Greeks to apply this name for the type of ''Keltoi'' that they usually encountered".<ref name="McCone2013" />

Because Classical writers did not call the inhabitants of Britain and Ireland {{lang|grc|Κελτοί}} ({{transliteration|grc|Keltoi}}) or {{lang|la|Celtae}},<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /> some scholars prefer not to use the term for the Iron Age inhabitants of those islands.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" /><ref name="SJames" /><ref name="JCollis" /><ref name="FPryor" /> However, they spoke Celtic languages, shared other cultural traits, and Roman historian [[Tacitus]] says the Britons resembled the Gauls in customs and religion.<ref name="Sims-Williams" />

===Modern===
For at least 1,000 years, the ethnonym ''Celt'' was not used at all. No ethnic group called themselves Celts or Celtic until about 1700. After the word 'Celtic' was rediscovered in classical texts, it was applied for the first time to the distinctive culture, history, traditions, and language of the modern Celtic nations – Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Cornwall, Brittany, and the Isle of Man.<ref>[https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/who-were-the-celts-it-s-complicated-1.2410501 Who were the Celts? It's complicated] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230417195847/https://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/uk/who-were-the-celts-it-s-complicated-1.2410501 |date=17 April 2023 }}, ''Irish Times'', Denis Staunton, 20 October 2015, accessed 17 April 2023.</ref> 'Celt' is a modern English word, first attested in 1707 in the writing of [[Edward Lhuyd]], whose work, along with that of other late 17th-century scholars, brought academic attention to the languages and history of the early Celtic inhabitants of Great Britain.<ref>Lhuyd, E. ''Archaeologia Britannica; An account of the languages, histories, and customs of the original inhabitants of Great Britain.'' (reprint ed.) Irish University Press, 1971, p. 290. {{ISBN|0-7165-0031-0}}.</ref> The English words ''Gaul'', ''Gauls'' ({{abbr|pl.|plural}}) and ''Gaulish'' (first recorded in the 16–17th centuries) come from French {{lang|fr|Gaule}} and {{lang|fr|Gaulois}}, a borrowing from [[Frankish language|Frankish]] *{{lang|frk|Walholant}}, 'Roman-land' {{crossref|(see [[Gaul#Name|Gaul: Name]])}}, the root of which is [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] {{lang|gem-x-proto|[[walhaz|walha-]]}}, 'foreigner, Roman, Celt', whence the English word ''Welsh'' ([[Old English]] {{lang|ang|wælisċ}}). Proto-Germanic {{lang|gem-x-proto|walha}} comes from the name of the [[Volcae]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Koch |first=John T. |title=Celtic Culture: A Historical Encyclopedia |url= https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128 |url-access=limited |date=2006 |publisher=[[ABC-CLIO]] |isbn=978-1-85109-440-0 |page=[https://archive.org/details/celticculturehis00koch_128/page/n567 532]}}</ref> a Celtic tribe who lived first in southern Germany and central Europe, then migrated to Gaul.<ref>{{cite book |last=Mountain |first=Harry |title=The Celtic Encyclopedia |volume=1 |date=1998 |publisher=[[uPublish.com|uPublish]] |isbn=978-1-58112-889-5 |page=252}}</ref> This means that English ''Gaul'', despite its superficial similarity, is not actually derived from Latin {{lang|la|Gallia}} (which should have produced *{{lang|fr|Jaille}} in French),{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} though it does refer to the same ancient region.

''Celtic'' refers to a [[language family]] and, more generally, means 'of the Celts' or 'in the style of the Celts'. Several archaeological cultures are considered Celtic, based on unique sets of artefacts. The link between language and artefact is aided by the presence of inscriptions.<ref>{{cite book |last=Kruta |first=Venceslas |title=The Celts |date=1991 |publisher=[[Thames & Hudson]] |pages=95–102 |display-authors=etal}}</ref> The modern idea of a Celtic [[culture|cultural]] identity or "Celticity" focuses on similarities among languages, works of art, and classical texts,<ref>Paul Graves-Brown, Siân Jones, Clive Gamble, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=9BsG0pXp61sC&pg=PA242 |title=Cultural Identity and Archaeology: The Construction of European Communities |pages=242–244 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-10676-4 |date=1996}}</ref> and sometimes also among material artefacts, [[social organisation]], [[homeland]] and [[Celtic mythology|mythology]].<ref>Carl McColman, {{cite book |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=71oefF7-73MC&q=%22Celticity%22&pg=PA32 |title=The Complete Idiot's Guide to Celtic Wisdom |pages=31–34 |publisher=[[Alpha Books]] |access-date=7 June 2010 |isbn=978-0-02-864417-2 |date=2003}}</ref> Earlier theories held that these similarities suggest a common "racial" ([[Race (human categorization)|race]] is now a contested concept) origin for the various Celtic peoples, but more recent theories hold that they reflect a common cultural and linguistic heritage more than a genetic one. Celtic cultures seem to have been diverse, with the use of a Celtic language being the main thing they had in common.<ref name="Koch encyclopedia" />

Today, the term 'Celtic' generally refers to the languages and cultures of Ireland, Scotland, Wales, [[Cornwall]], the [[Isle of Man]], and [[Brittany]]; also called the [[Celtic nations]]. These are the regions where Celtic languages are still spoken to some extent. The four are [[Irish language|Irish]], [[Scottish Gaelic]], [[Welsh language|Welsh]], and [[Breton language|Breton]]; plus two recent revivals, [[Cornish language|Cornish]] (a [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic language]]) and [[Manx language|Manx]] (a [[Goidelic languages|Goidelic language]]). There are also attempts to reconstruct [[Cumbric]], a Brittonic language of northern Britain. Celtic regions of mainland Europe are those whose residents claim a Celtic heritage, but where no Celtic language survives; these include western Iberia, i.e. [[Portugal]] and north-central [[Spain]] ([[Galicia (Spain)|Galicia]], [[Asturias]], [[Cantabria]], [[Castile and León]], [[Extremadura]]).<ref>{{cite book |last=Monaghan |first=Patricia |title=The Encyclopedia of Celtic Mythology and Folklore |date=2008 |publisher=[[Facts on File Inc.]] |isbn=978-0-8160-7556-0}}</ref>

Continental Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of mainland Europe and Insular Celts are the Celtic-speaking people of the British and Irish islands, and their descendants. The Celts of Brittany derive their language from migrating Insular Celts from Britain and so are grouped accordingly.<ref>{{cite book |last=Chadwick |first=Nora |title=The Celts with an introductory chapter by J.X.W.P. Corcoran |date=1970 |publisher=[[Penguin Books]] |page=81}}</ref>