Editing River Thames (section)

==Name==
===Brittonic origin===
[[File:Le Pilier des Nautes 01.JPG|right|thumb|180px|Image of the deity [[Esus|Æsus]] on the [[Gallo-Roman culture|Gallo-Roman]] ''"[[Pillar of the Boatmen]]"'' ]]
[[File:Father Thames, St John's Lock, Lechlade.jpg|thumb|A statue of Old Father Thames by [[Raffaelle Monti]] at [[St John's Lock]], Lechlade]]

According to Mallory and Adams, the Thames, from [[Middle English]] {{lang|enm|Temese}}, is derived from the [[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]] name for the river, ''Tamesas'' (from the hypothesised *''tamēssa''),<ref name=MalloryAdams147>Mallory, J. P. and D. Q. Adams (1947). ''The Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture''. London: Fitzroy and Dearborn. p. 147.</ref> recorded in Latin as {{lang|la|Tamesis}} and yielding modern Welsh {{lang|cy|Tafwys}} "Thames".

<!-- ***** Whilst these statements are plausible they really need to be verified. *****
The Latin name can be broken down into '' " Tam..esis " ''; the second element is the origin of the name of [[The Isis]] 
{{efn| Some historians suggest the name ''Isis'' is nothing more than a truncation of ''Tamesis'', the Latin name for the ''Thames''. }}
and may be a reference to the [[Celtic Britons| Brittonic]] [[deity]] [[Esus| Æsus]].
{{efn| The deity [[Esus| Æsus]] (also ''Esus'', ''Hesus'') is known from two [[monument| monumental statues]], one of which is the [[Gallo-Roman culture| Gallo-Roman]] statue [[Pillar of the Boatmen| '' " Pillar of the Boatmen " '']]. Æsus is shown standing beside a [[Willow| willow tree]], which he is cutting down with an axe.}}
{{efn| The [[wikt:Esino|''Esino river'']] in the [[Marche]] region of Italy might have a similar [[etymology]]. See WiKtionary <[[wikt:Aesis|''Aesis'']] > " ...river Esino " }}
{{efn| ''Brittonic Language'' *Ẹ:s (Alan James) . . . Early Celtic *ēs- or *ais- > Br *ẹ:s-; Latinised as Esus, Æsus, Hesus.{{sfn|James|2020|p=132}} }}
-->
The name element ''Tam'' may have meant "dark" and can be compared to other [[cognate]]s such as Slavic темно ([[Proto-Slavic]] *''tĭmĭnŭ''), [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] ''tamsi'' "dark", [[Latvian language|Latvian]] ''tumsa'' "darkness", [[Sanskrit]] ''[[tamas (philosophy)|tamas]]'' and Welsh ''tywyll'' "darkness" and [[Middle Irish]] ''teimen'' "dark grey".<ref name=MalloryAdams147 />{{efn| Chapter 5: ''The Celtic Element'' (P. H. Reaney) . . . The name is considered to be related to the [[Sanskrit]] ''Tamasa'' ("dark water"), the name of a tributary{{Efn|See [[Tamsa River]]}} of the River Ganges.{{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}}}} The origin is shared by many other river names in Britain, such as the [[River Tamar]] at the border of [[Devon]] and [[Cornwall]], several [[River Tame (disambiguation)|rivers named Tame]] in [[the Midlands]] and [[North Yorkshire]], the [[River Tavy|Tavy]] on [[Dartmoor]], the [[River Team|Team]] of the North East, the [[River Teifi|Teifi]] and [[River Teme|Teme]] of [[Wales]], the [[River Teviot|Teviot]] in the [[Scottish Borders]] and a Thames tributary, the [[River Thame|Thame]].

[[Kenneth H. Jackson]] proposed that the name of the Thames is not [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] (and of unknown meaning),<ref>{{cite book |last=Jackson |first=Kenneth H |author-link=Kenneth H. Jackson |year=1955 |title=The Pictish Language}} in {{cite book |editor=F. T. Wainright |title=The Problem of the Picts |location=Edinburgh |publisher=Nelson |pages=129–166}}</ref> while Peter Kitson suggested that it is Indo-European but originated before the [[British people|Britons]] and has a name indicating "muddiness" from a root ''*tā-'', 'melt'.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Kitson |first=Peter R. |year=1996 |title=British and European River Names' |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |volume=94 |issue=2 |pages=73–118 |doi=10.1111/j.1467-968X.1996.tb01178.x}}</ref>

===Name history===
[[File:Thames by Anne Seymour Damer.JPG|thumb|right|Sculpture of Tamesis. Downstream [[keystone (architecture)|keystone]] of the central arch of [[Henley Bridge]]]]

Early variants of the name include:

* Tamesa ([[Brittonic languages|Brittonic]]){{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}}
* Tamesis ([[Latin]]){{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}}
* Tamis, Temes ([[Old English]]){{sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}}
* Tamise, Thamis (1220) ([[Middle English]], [[Anglo-Norman language|Anglo-Norman French]]){{Efn| Chapter 5: "The Celtic Element" (P. H. Reaney). The common ME ''Tamise'' is a French form, as is the modern spelling with the French ''Th–'' for ''T–'' (Thamis 1220).{{Sfn|Reaney|1969|p=72}} }}

Indirect evidence for the antiquity of the name "Thames" is provided by a Roman [[potsherd]] found at Oxford, bearing the inscription ''Tamesubugus fecit'' (Tamesubugus made [this]). It is believed that Tamesubugus' name was derived from that of the river.<ref>Henig M. & Booth P. (2000). ''Roman Oxfordshire'', pp. 118–119</ref> Tamese was referred to as a place, not a river in the [[Ravenna Cosmography]] ({{Circa|AD 700}}).

The river's name has always been pronounced with a simple ''t'' {{IPA|/t/}}; the [[Middle English]] spelling was typically {{lang|enm|Temese}} and the Brittonic form ''Tamesis''. A similar spelling from 1210, "Tamisiam" (the accusative case of "Tamisia"; see {{slink|Kingston upon Thames|Early history}}), is found in [[Magna Carta]].<ref>{{Cite book |editor-first=Ellis |editor-last=Sandoz |year=2008 |title=The Roots of Liberty: Magna Carta, Ancient Constitution, and the Anglo-American Tradition of Rule of Law |location=Indianapolis, IN |publisher=Amagi/Liberty Fund |pages=39, 347 |isbn=9780865977099 |oclc=173502766}}</ref>

===The Isis===
The Thames through [[Oxford]] is sometimes{{when|date=June 2023}} called [[the Isis]]. Historically, and especially in [[Victorian era|Victorian]] times, gazetteers and cartographers insisted that the entire river was correctly named the Isis from its source down to [[Dorchester on Thames]] and that only from this point, where the river meets [[River Thame|the Thame]] and becomes the "Thame-isis" (supposedly subsequently abbreviated to Thames) should it be so called.{{citation needed|date=February 2023}} [[Ordnance Survey]] maps still label the Thames as "River Thames or Isis" down to Dorchester. Since the early 20th century this distinction has been lost in common usage outside of Oxford, and some historians {{who|date=February 2023}} suggest the name ''Isis'' is nothing more than a [[Clipping (morphology)|truncation]] of ''Tamesis'', the [[Latin]] name for the Thames. Sculptures titled ''Tamesis'' and ''Isis'' by [[Anne Seymour Damer]] are located on [[Henley Bridge|the bridge]] at [[Henley-on-Thames]], [[Oxfordshire]] (the original terracotta and plaster models were exhibited at the [[Royal Academy of Arts|Royal Academy]], [[London]], in 1785. They are now{{when|date=June 2023}} on show at the [[River and Rowing Museum]] in Henley).<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kendal |first1=Roger |last2=Bowen |first2=Jane |last3=Wortley |first3=Laura |title=Genius & Gentility: Henley in the Age of Enlightenment |date=2002 |publisher=River and Rowing Museum |location=Henley-on-Thames |isbn=9780953557127 |pages=12–13}}</ref>

===Name legacy===
[[Richard Coates]] suggests that while the river was as a whole called the Thames, part of it, where it was too wide to ford, was called *''(p)lowonida''. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as [[Londinium]], from the Indo-European roots *''pleu-'' "flow" and *''-nedi'' "river" meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river.<ref name=coates>{{cite journal |last=Coates |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Coates |year=1998 |title=A new explanation of the name of London |journal=Transactions of the Philological Society |volume=96 |issue=2 |pages=203–229 |doi=10.1111/1467-968X.00027}}</ref><ref>Cultural Heritage Resources (2005). ''[http://chr.org.uk/legends.htm Legendary Origins and the Origin of London's place name] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110709082221/http://www.chr.org.uk/legends.htm |date=9 July 2011 }}''. Retrieved 1 November 2005.</ref>

The river gives its name to three informal areas: the [[Thames Valley]], a region of England around the river between Oxford and West London; the [[Thames Gateway]]; and the greatly overlapping [[Thames Estuary]] around the tidal Thames to the east of London and including the waterway itself. [[Thames Valley Police]] is a formal body that takes its name from the river, covering three [[Counties of England|counties]]. In non-administrative use, the river's name is used in those of [[Thames Valley University]], [[Thames Water]], [[Thames Television]], publishing company [[Thames & Hudson]], [[Thameslink]] (north–south rail service passing through [[central London]]) and [[South Thames College]]. An example of its use in the names of historic entities is the [[Thames Ironworks and Shipbuilding Company]].