Editing Rhône (section)

==Etymology==
The name ''Rhône'' continues the [[Latin]] {{lang|la|Rhodanus}} name ([[Ancient Greek|Greek]] {{lang|grc|Ῥοδανός}} {{transliteration|grc|ALA-LC|Rhodanós}}) in [[Greco-Roman geography]]. The [[Gaulish]] name of the river was {{lang|xtg|*Rodonos}} or {{lang|xtg|*Rotonos}} (from a [[Proto-Indo-European language|PIE]] root *''ret-'' "to run, roll" frequently found in river names).

Names in other languages include {{langx|de|Rhone}} {{IPA|de|ˈroːnə||de-Rhone.ogg}}; {{langx|wae|Rotten}} {{IPA|wae|ˈrotən|}}; {{langx|it|Rodano}} {{IPA|it|ˈrɔːdano|}}; {{langx|frp|Rôno}} {{IPA|frp|ˈʁono|}}; {{langx|oc|Ròse}} {{IPA|oc|ˈrɔze, ˈʀɔze|}}; and {{langx|rm|Rodan}}.

The Greco-Roman as well as the reconstructed Gaulish name is masculine, as is French {{lang|fr|le Rhône}}. This form survives in the Spanish/Portuguese and Italian namesakes, {{lang|es|el/o Ródano}} and {{lang|it|il Rodano}}, respectively. German has adopted the French name but given it the feminine gender, {{lang|de|die Rhone}}. The original German adoption of the Latin name was also masculine, {{lang|de|der Rotten}}; it survives only in the [[Upper Valais]] ([[Highest Alemannic|dialectal]] {{lang|wae|Rottu}}).

In French, the adjective derived from the river is {{lang|fr|rhodanien}}, as in {{lang|fr|le sillon rhodanien}} (literally "the furrow of the Rhône"), which is the name of the long, straight [[Saône]] and Rhône river valleys, a deep cleft running due south to the [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] and separating the [[Alps]] from the [[Massif Central]].