Editing Helvetii (section)

== Name ==
They are mentioned as ''Helvetii'' by [[Cicero]] (mid-1st c. BC), [[Julius Caesar|Caesar]] (mid-1st c. BC) and [[Tacitus]] (early 2nd c. AD),<ref>[[Cicero]]. ''[[Epistulae ad Atticum]]'', 1:19:2</ref><ref>[[Julius Caesar|Caesar]]. ''[[Commentarii de Bello Gallico]]'', 1:1:4</ref><ref>[[Tacitus]]''. [[Histories (Tacitus)|Historiae]]'', 1:67</ref> in the [[genitive case]] as ''Helvetiorum'' by [[Livy]] (late 1st c. BC),<ref>[[Livy]]. ''[[Ab Urbe Condita Libri]]'', epit. 65</ref> as ''Helveti'' by [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] (mid-1st c. AD),<ref>[[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]]. ''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]],'' 4:106</ref> and as ''Elouḗtioi'' (Ἐλουήτιοι) by [[Ptolemy]] (2nd c. AD).<ref>[[Ptolemy]]. ''[[Geography (Ptolemy)|Geōgraphikḕ Hyphḗgēsis]]'', 2:9:10</ref><ref name="Falileyev">{{Harvnb|Falileyev|2010}}, s.v. ''Helvetii''.</ref>

The [[Gaulish]] ethnic name ''Helvetii'' is generally interpreted as ''(h)elu-ētioi'' ('rich in land'), from ''elu''- ('numerous', cf. [[Old Irish|OIr.]] ''il'') attached to ''etu''- ('grassland'; cf. OIr. ''iath'').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=162, 168}}<ref name="Freeman" /><ref name="Falileyev" /> The presence of the initial ''h''-, remnant of a previous ''p''- ([[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] ''*pelh<sub>1</sub>u-'' > Celt. ''helu-'' > ''elu-''), attests of an archaic formation.{{Sfn|de Bernardo Stempel|2015|p=93}}

The earliest attestation of the name is found in a ''graffito'' on a vessel from [[Mantua]], dated to c. 300 BC.<ref>Reproduction in R.C. De Marinis, ''Gli Etruschi a Nord del Po,'' Mantova, 1986.</ref> The inscription in [[Etruscan alphabet|Etruscan letters]] reads ''eluveitie,'' which has been interpreted as the [[Etruscan language|Etruscan]] form of the Celtic ''elu̯eti̯os'' ("the Helvetian"), presumably referring to a man of Helvetian descent living in Mantua.