Editing Maponos (section)

==Etymology==
In [[Gaulish language|Gaulish]], ''mapos'' means a young boy or a son.<ref>Matasović, Ranko. Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Celtic, page 253. 2009. Brill.</ref> The suffix ''-onos'' is augmentative. Besides the [[theonym]] ''Maponos'', the root ''mapos'' is found in personal names such as ''Mapodia'', ''Mapillus'', and ''Maponius''; ''mapo'' is also found in the Carjac inscription (RIG L-86). The root is [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]] ''*makʷos''. (Delamarre 2003 pp.&nbsp;216–217).

In [[Insular Celtic languages]], the same root is found in [[Welsh language|Welsh]], [[Cornish language|Cornish]] and [[Breton language|Breton]] ''mab'' meaning ''son'' (Delamarre 2003 pp.&nbsp;216–217), derived from [[Brythonic languages#History and origins|Common Brythonic]] ''*mapos'' (identical to Gaulish). In [[Old Irish]], ''macc'' also means ''son''; it is found in [[Ogham]] inscriptions as the genitive ''maqui'', ''maqqi'', ''maqui'' (Sims-Williams 2003 pp.&nbsp;430–431) with a geminative expressive doubling ''*makʷkʷos''. (This is the source of Scottish and Irish names starting ''Mac'' or ''Mc'' as well as Welsh or Cornish names ''Ap,'' often shortened to just 'P-).

He therefore personified youthfulness, which would explain the [[syncretism]] with the Graeco-Roman god [[Apollo]].