Editing Dumnonii (section)

==Etymology==
{{History of Cornwall}}[[William Camden]], in his 1607 edition of ''Britannia'', describes [[Cornwall]] and [[Devon]] as being two parts of the same 'country' which:{{Blockquote|was in ancient time inhabited by those Britains whom [[Gaius Julius Solinus|Solinus]] called Dunmonii, [[Ptolemy|Ptolomee]] Damnonii, or (as we find in some other copies) more truly Danmonii. ... . But... the Country of this nation is at this day divided into two parts, known by later names of Cornwall and Denshire [Devonshire] ... The near or hithermore region of the Danmonians that I spake of is now commonly called Denshire, [or] by the Cornish-Britains 'Dewnan', and by the Welsh Britains 'Duffneint' [sic], that is, 'low valleys', for that the people dwell for the most part beneath in Vales; by the English Saxons [it is known as] 'Deven-schire', whereof grew the Latin name 'Devonia', and by that contraction which the vulgar people useth, 'Denshire'.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Southhall |first1=Humphrey |last2=Camden |first2=William |title=Home/Travel Writing/William Camden/Selection 8 |url=https://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/text/chap_page.jsp?t_id=Camden&c_id=8&cpub_id=0 |website=A vision of Britain through time |access-date=1 June 2024}}</ref>}}

Camden had learnt some [[Welsh language|Welsh]] during the course of his studies and it would appear that he is the origin of the interpretation of Dumnonii as "deep valley dwellers" from his understanding of the Welsh of his time. The modern Welsh term is ''Dyfnaint''. [[John Rhŷs]] later theorized that the tribal name was derived from the name of a goddess, ''Domnu'', probably meaning "the goddess of the deep".<ref>Rhys, John (1892) ''Lectures on the origin and growth of religion as illustrated by Celtic heathendom''. London: Williams and Norgate; p. 597</ref> The [[Proto-Celtic language|proto-Celtic]] root *dubno- or *dumno- meaning "the deep" or "the earth" (or alternatively meaning "dark" or "gloomy"<ref>Xavier Delamarre, ''Dictionnaire de la langue gauloise'', Errance, Paris, 2003</ref>) appears in personal names such as [[Dumnorix]] and [[Dubnovellaunus]]. Another group with a similar name but with no known links were the [[Fir Domnann]] of [[Connacht]].

The Roman name of the town of [[Exeter]], ''[[Isca Dumnoniorum]]'' ("Isca of the Dumnonii"), contains the root ''*iska-'' "water" for "Water of the Dumnonii". The Latin name suggests that the city was already an ''[[oppidum]]'', or walled town, on the banks on the [[River Exe]] before the foundation of the Roman city, in about AD 50. The Dumnonii gave their name to the English county of [[Devon]], and their name is represented in Britain's two extant [[Brythonic languages]] as ''Dewnens'' in [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and ''Dyfnaint'' in [[Welsh language|Welsh]]. [[Amedée Simon Dominique Thierry|Amédée Thierry]] (''Histoire des Gaulois'', 1828), one of the inventors of the historic race of Gauls, could confidently equate them with the [[Cornish people|Cornish]] ("les Cornouailles").

Victorian historians often referred to the tribe as the [[Damnonii]], which is also the name of another people from lowland Scotland, although there are no known links between the two populations.