Editing Isle of Wight (section)

==Name==
The oldest records that give a name for the Isle of Wight are from the Roman Empire. It was called ''Vectis'' or ''Vecta'' in Latin and ''Iktis'' or ''Ouiktis'' in Greek. Latin ''Vecta,'' Old English ''Wiht,'' and Old Welsh ''Gueid'' and ''Guith'' were recorded from the Anglo-Saxon period. The [[Domesday Book]] called the island ''Wit.'' The modern Welsh name is ''Ynys Wyth'' (''ynys'' meaning island). These are all variants of the same name, possibly sharing a Celtic origin<ref>[[A. L. F. Rivet]], Colin Smith, ''The Place-Names of Roman Britain'' (Batsford, 1979) pp. 487–489</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://romanrepublic.org/bibliotheca/index.php?title=VECTIS|title=VECTIS – Roman Republic|website=romanrepublic.org|access-date=28 January 2018|archive-date=13 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191213140612/http://romanrepublic.org/bibliotheca/index.php?title=VECTIS|url-status=dead}}</ref> with Welsh ''gwaith'' 'work', a cognate of both [[Latin]] ''vectis'' ("lever," or literally "the act of lifting") and [[Old English]] ''wiht'' ("weight").{{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=71}} It may mean 'place of the division,' since the island divides the two arms of the Solent.{{sfn|Ekwall|1960|p=518}}

In [[Old English]], inhabitants of the Isle were known as ''Wihtware''.{{sfn|Clark Hall|1916|pp=740-741}}