Editing Sámi people (section)

===''Finn''===
{{main|Finn (ethnonym)}}

The first probable historical mention of the Sámi, naming them {{lang|la|Fenni}}, was by [[Tacitus]], about AD&thinsp;98.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Tacitus |author-link=Tacitus |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=9xLVEPR-ax8C&q=Germania:+by+Cornelius+Tacitus+rives |title=Germania: Translated with Introduction and Commentary |date=1999 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |isbn=978-0-19-815050-3 |editor-last=Rives |editor-first=Archibald Black |pages=96, 322, 326, 327 |access-date=20 October 2020 |orig-date=c. 98 AD |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230420110610/https://books.google.com/books?id=9xLVEPR-ax8C&q=Germania:+by+Cornelius+Tacitus+rives |archive-date=20 April 2023 |url-status=live}}</ref> Variants of ''Finn'' or {{lang|la|Fenni}} were in wide use in ancient times, judging from the names {{lang|la|[[Fenni]]}} and {{lang|grc|Φίννοι}} ({{lang|grc-Latn|Phinnoi}}) in classical [[Latin literature|Roman]] and [[Ancient Greek literature|Greek works]]. ''Finn'' (or variants, such as {{lang|non|skridfinn}}, 'skiing Finn'<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mutt |first=Oleg |date=1965 |title=The Stems ''est'' and ''finn'' in Some Old English Words |url=https://kirj.ee/linguistica-uralica-publications/?filter[year]=1965&filter[issue]=1529&filter[publication]=13408 |journal=Linguistica Uralica |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=27–32 |doi=10.3176/lu.1965.1.04 |issn=0868-4731}}</ref>) was the name originally used by Norse speakers (and their proto-Norse speaking ancestors) to refer to the Sámi, as attested in the Icelandic [[Edda]]s and [[Norse sagas]] (11th to 14th centuries).

The etymology is somewhat uncertain,<ref>{{Cite book |last=de Vries |first=Jan |title=Altnordisches etymologisches Wörterbuch |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |year=1962 |edition=2nd |location=Leiden |language=de |trans-title=Old Norse Etymological Dictionary |chapter=Finnr. |oclc=685115}}</ref> but the consensus seems to be that it is related to [[Old Norse]] {{lang|non|finna}}, from proto-Germanic {{lang|gem|*finþanan}} ('to find'), the logic being that the Sámi, as [[hunter-gatherers]] "found" their food, rather than grew it.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Cite book |last=Collinder |first=Björn |title=An Introduction to the Uralic Languages |publisher=[[University of California Press]] |year=1965 |isbn=978-0-520-32988-1 |location=Berkeley |page=8}}</ref> This etymology has superseded older speculations that the word might be related to ''fen''.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 2021 |title=Finn, n |url=https://www.oed.com/view/Entry/70478 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728171637/https://www.oed.com/start;jsessionid=176B25A100D361BCA4A7EA6B9DD9129F?authRejection=true&url=%2Fview%2FEntry%2F70478 |archive-date=28 July 2020 |access-date=3 July 2020 |website=[[Oxford English Dictionary|OED Online]]}}</ref>

As Old Norse gradually developed into the separate Scandinavian languages, Swedes apparently took to using ''Finn'' to refer to inhabitants of what is now Finland, while the Sámi came to be called ''Lapps''. In Norway, however, Sámi were still called ''Finns'' at least until the modern era (reflected in toponyms like {{lang|no|[[Finnmark]]}}, {{lang|no|[[Finnsnes]]}}, {{lang|no|Finnfjord}} and {{lang|no|Finnøy}}), and some northern Norwegians will still occasionally use ''Finn'' to refer to Sámi people, although the Sámi themselves now consider this to be an inappropriate term. Finnish immigrants to Northern Norway in the 18th and 19th centuries were referred to as [[Kven people|Kvens]] to distinguish them from the Sámi "Finns". Ethnic [[Finns]] ({{lang|fi|suomalaiset}}) are a group related to the Sámi, but distinct from them.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Uralilaiset kansat: tietoa suomen sukukielistä ja niiden puhujista |publisher=WSOY |year=1992 |editor-last=Laakso |editor-first=Johanna |location=Juva |pages=39–40 |language=fi |trans-title=Uralic peoples: information on Finnish mother tongues and their speakers}}</ref>