Editing Scotland (section)

== Etymology ==
{{Main|Etymology of Scotland}}

''Scotland'' comes from {{Lang|la|[[Scoti]]}}, the Latin name for the [[Gaels]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Scotland's History - The Kingdom of the Gaels |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_gaels/ |website=www.bbc.co.uk |publisher=BBC |access-date=7 January 2024 |archive-date=7 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240107011630/https://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/history/articles/kingdom_of_the_gaels/ |url-status=live }}</ref> [[Philip Freeman]] has speculated on the likelihood of a group of raiders adopting a name from an [[Indo-European root]], *''skot'', citing the parallel in Greek {{Lang|el-latn|skotos}} ({{Lang|el|σκότος|italic=no}}), meaning "darkness, gloom".<ref>P. Freeman, ''Ireland and the Classical World'', Austin, 2001, pp. [https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSHhfOM-5AEC&pg=PA93 93] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011812/https://books.google.com/books?id=ZSHhfOM-5AEC&pg=PA93#v=onepage&q&f=false |date=10 June 2024 }}.</ref> The [[Late Latin]] word {{Lang|la|[[Scotia]]}} ("land of the Gaels") was initially used to refer to Ireland,<ref>{{Cite book |last=Gwynn |first=Stephen |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2RlF7sq48n4C&pg=PA16 |title=The History Of Ireland |date=July 2009 |isbn=9781113155177 |page=16 |publisher=BiblioBazaar |access-date=17 September 2014 |archive-date=10 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240610011757/https://books.google.com/books?id=2RlF7sq48n4C&pg=PA16 |url-status=live }}</ref> and likewise in early [[Old English language|Old English]] {{Lang|ang|Scotland}} was used for Ireland.<ref>Lemke, Andreas: [https://www.univerlag.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/3/isbn-978-3-86395-189-4/GSEP8_lemke.pdf?sequence=1 The Old English Translation of Bede's ''Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum'' in its Historical and Cultural Context] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201125160601/https://www.univerlag.uni-goettingen.de/bitstream/handle/3/isbn-978-3-86395-189-4/GSEP8_lemke.pdf?sequence=1 |date=25 November 2020 }}, Chapter II: The ''OEHE'': The Material Evidence; page 71 (Universitätsdrucke Göttingen, 2015)</ref> By the 11th century at the latest, ''Scotia'' was being used to refer to (Gaelic-speaking) Scotland north of the [[River Forth]], alongside ''Albania'' or ''Albany'', both derived from the Gaelic {{Lang|gd|[[Alba]]}}.<ref name="Brewer">{{Cite book |last1=Ayto |first1=John |url=https://archive.org/details/brewersbritainir0000unse |title=Brewer's Britain & Ireland: The History, Culture, Folklore and Etymology of 7500 Places in These Islands |last2=Ian Crofton |publisher=WN |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-304-35385-9 |url-access=registration}}</ref> The use of the words ''Scots'' and ''Scotland'' to encompass all of what is now Scotland became common in the [[Scotland in the Late Middle Ages|Late Middle Ages]].<ref name=Keay/>