Londinium is derived from the celtic word llyn din means literally river place

Exercise
1.
Complete the
sentences using “which”, “who”, “whose”, “whom”,
“where”:

1.
The name “Londinium” is derived from the Celtic word Llyn-din, …
means literally “river place”. 2. The official head of the UK is
the Queen, … reigns but doesn’t rule. 3. Yesterday I met a
friend of mine … wife is an English teacher. 4. The Thames, …
has always been the part of London history, is often called Father
of London. 5. Many people think that Big Ben was named after Sir
Benjamin Hall, a British civil engineer, … was put in charge of
the Clock Tower, but this is questionable. 6. Do you know a
restaurant … we can have a really good meal? 7. I don’t know the
name of the woman to … I spoke on the phone. 8. A mountaineer is a
person … ambition is to climb Everest. 8. The building … was
destroyed in the fire has now been rebuilt.

*Exercise
2.
Mark
the border between the sentences where the conjunction is left out.
Read the sentences paying attention to the intonation.

Model:
The people I talked to during my trip were very friendly. →

The
people [who]
I talked to during my trip were very friendly.

1.
The book he read yesterday was about history of London. 2. The
museum we wanted to visit was shut when we got there. 3. Are these
the keys you were looking for? 4. The man I was sitting next to on
the plane talked all the time. 5. Everything they said was true. 6.
The woman I wanted to see was away. 7. What’s the name of the film
you are going to see? 8. It was the most boring film I‘ve ever
seen.

Exercise
3. Use the Present or the Future Indefinite Tense. § 8.2.

Model:
I (to help) you when I (to be) free. → I’ll
help
you when
I am
free.

1.
It (to take) you ten minutes if you (to take) a taxi. 2. I (to know)
something about London after I (to make) a trip there. 3. If you (to
want) to see all these places, you must stay here for a week. 4.
When you (to cross) the street in London, look first to the right
because of the traffic rules. 5. As soon as you (to turn) the corner
you (to see) the Russian Embassy right in front of you. 6. Let’s
wait till the green light (to be) on. 7. When you (to get off) the
bus, I (to be) there. 8. We (to meet) before he (to leave) for
London. 9. I (to ask) a policeman in the street if I (to be) lost.

**Exercise
4.
Use
the verbs in brackets in the correct tense form (Active or Passive).
Translate the text.

An Old Legend

The
six ravens (to keep) in the Tower of London now for centuries. They
used to come in from Essex for food scraps when the Tower (to use)
as a palace. Over the years people (to think) that if the ravens
ever left the Tower, the monarchy would fall. So Charles II (to
decree) that six ravens should always (to keep) in the Tower and
should (to pay) a wage from the treasury. In those times the White
Tower was home to the Royal Observatory, and when the King (to tell)
that the ravens got in the way of the observations, he (to move) the
astronomer instead. Since then, the Observatory (to be situated) in
Greenwich, and three pairs of breeding ravens (to be) a permanent
feature of the Tower, cared for by the Raven Master. Sometimes they
(to live) as long as 25 years, but their wings (to clip) so they
can’t fly away, and when a raven (to die), another raven (to
bring) from Essex.

Exercise
5.
Translate
the sentences paying attention to the phrasal verbs.

1.
He kept
on
talking after everybody asked him to stop. 2. I don’t think he
killed those men. Somebody set
him up.
3. A new parliamentary committee was set
up
yesterday. 4. Keep your back straight when you pick
up
something heavy. 5. What time are you going to pick
me up?
6. It’s possible to pick
up
enough English in three weeks before your trip to London. 7. Meg
dropped
in
yesterday after dinner. 8. Jimmie isn’t on the team any more. He
dropped
out.
9. My sister gets
away
with everything! 10. Natasha doesn’t get
on
with her co-workers. 11. The bus was full, so it was difficult both
to
get on and
to get off.

*Exercise
6.
Insert
the phrasal verbs from exercise 5.

1.
… your English! 2. Though he has been told not to smoke at the
office, he … smoking every half-hour. 3. I didn’t do anything
wrong. They … me …! 4. A school based on absolutely new
principles … 5 years ago by this outstanding educationist. 5.
Let’s …on Julie since we’re driving by her house. 6. It’s
difficult to get a good job if you …of high school. 7. Could you
…me … at the airport tomorrow and …at Harrods’s? 8. The
train is leaving. Quick, …! 9. The gangsters … with a murder.
10. Do you … with your neighbors? 11. We’ll have to … to
change for Bus No. 5.

Exercise
7.
Match
the modal verbs and their meanings. § 10.

permission
(b)

physical
or mental

ability
/disability (a) probability
(c)

impossibility
(d) possibility
in a

particular situation (e)

politeness (f)

1. He
   can
   play tennis well and speak Chinese.

2. I
   haven’t
   been able to
   sleep recently.

3. It’s
   cloudy; it may
   /might
   rain in the evening.

4. May
   / can
   I take your book?

5. Could
   you leave me a message, please?

6. We
   have just had lunch. You can’t
   (cannot) be
   hungry.

7. She
   wasn’t at home when I phoned but I was
   able to
   contact her at her office.

Exercise
8. Complete
the sentences
using “can, can’t, could, couldn’t”.

1.
I’m afraid I … come to your party next week. 2. When Tim was 16,
he was a fast runner. He … run 100 metres in 11 seconds. 3. “Are
you in a hurry?” “No, I’ve got plenty of time. I … wait”.
4. I was feeling sick yesterday. I … eat anything. 5. Can you
speak up a bit? I … hear you very well. 6. “You look tired”.
“Yes, I … sleep last night”. 7. … you be so kind to tell me
the time, please?

*Exercise
9. Use “can” if possible; otherwise use “be able to”. §
10.1.

1.
George has traveled a lot. He … speak three languages. 2. Martin
is an eccentric. I’ve never … understand him. 3. Tom might …
come tomorrow. 4. Sandra … drive but she hasn’t got a car. 5.
I’m very busy on Friday but I … meet you on Saturday morning. 6.
Ask Catherine about your problem. She might … help you. 7. I would
like to … swim well. 8. She used to … dance very well but she …
not do it now.

*Exercise
10.
Paraphrase
using “couldn’t” (in the negative sentence) or “was / were
able to” (in the affirmative sentence). § 10.1.

1.
Everybody managed
to
escape from the fire. 2. Jack and Paul played tennis yesterday; Jack
played very well but in the end Paul managed to beat him. 3. I
looked everywhere for the book but I didn’t manage to find it. 4.
Tom managed to finish his work that afternoon. 5. I had forgotten to
bring my camera so I didn’t manage to take any pictures. 6. They
didn’t want to come with us and nobody managed to persuade
(убеждать)
them. 7. Ann had given us good directions, so we managed to get
there in time.

Exercise
11. Paraphrase using “may or might” according to the structures.
§
10.2.

He may / might be in his office.	Present
He may / might be doing the task.	Continuous
He may / might have (not) done it.	Past

1.
Perhaps Margaret is busy.

1. Perhaps
   she didn’t know about it.

2. Perhaps
   she is working now.

3. Perhaps
   she wants to be alone.

4. Perhaps
   she was ill yesterday.

5. Perhaps
   she went home early.

6. Perhaps
   she is having lunch.

7. Perhaps
   she didn’t see you.

8. Perhaps
   she didn’t leave you a message.

Exercise
12. Match the modal verbs and their meanings. § 10.3.

logical
necessity (b)

moral
or social

obligation
/duty (a) personal
obligation (c)

advice or
expectation or plan (e)

opinion
(d)

absence
of necessity (f) probability (g)

1. You
   must
   work hard in order to pass the exam successfully.

2. Peter
   is tall and strong, he must
   be a good sportsman.

3. In
   Britain schoolchildren have
   to wear
   uniform.

4. The
   delegation is
   to
   arrive on Monday.

5. You
   should
   eat more fruit and vegetables.

6. We
   needn’t
   hurry. We’ve got plenty of time.

7. I
   ought
   to
   pay our debts.

*Exercise
13. Put in “must or cannot”. § 10.

1.
You’ve been travelling all day. You … be
tired. 2.
That restaurant … be very good. It’s always full of people. 3.
That restaurant … be very good. It’s always empty. 4. It rained
every day during their holiday, so they … have had a very nice
time. 5. You got here very quickly. You … have walked very fast.
6. Congratulations on passing your exam. You … be very pleased. 7.
Jim is a hard worker. – You … be joking. He is very lazy.

*Exercise
14. Put
in “must or have to”. § 10.3, 10.4.

1.
She
is a really nice person. You …
meet
her. 2. You
…
turn
left here because of the traffic system. 3. My
eyesight isn’t very good. I … wear glasses for reading. 4. I
haven’t phoned Ann for ages. I … phone her tonight. 5. Last
night Nick became ill suddenly. We … call a doctor. 6. When you
come to London again, you … come and see us. 7. I’m sorry I
couldn’t come yesterday. I … work late. 8. Caroline may … go
away next week. 9. I … get up early tomorrow. There are a lot of
things I want to do.

Exercise
15.
Write
a sentence with “should
or
shouldn’t”
+ one of the following:
go
to bed so late; look for another job; put some pictures on he walls;
take a photograph; use her car so much.
§
10.7.

1.
My salary is very low. – You … .

2.
Jack always has difficulty getting up. He … .

3.
What a beautiful view! You … .

4.
Sue drives everywhere. She never walks. She … .

5.
Bill’s room isn’t very interesting. He … .

Exercise
16. Paraphrase using “be to”. § 10.5.

Model
1: I expect
her to come and help. → She is
to come
and help.

Model
2: It was
planned that we should wait for them at the door. → We were
to wait for
them at the door.

1.
The lecture is supposed to begin at 12 o’clock. 2. It was arranged
that he should meet her at the station. 3. The tourists expected the
guide to show them around the Tower of London. 4. It is planned that
she will wait for them at the entrance. 5. The train is supposed to
arrive on time. 6. I expected you to leave me a message. 7. It was
arranged that all the students would take part in the conference.

**Exercise
17.
Complete
the sentences using “could, must, was to, had to, might,
shouldn’t, will be able to, needn’t, ought to”. §10.

1.
Ted isn’t at work today, he …
be ill. 2.
My grandfather was a very clever man. He … speak five languages.
3. You look tired. You …
work so hard. 4. It was raining hard and we … wait until it
stopped. 5.
You … buy the tickets now, you can book them in advance. 6. As
they had agreed before, Tom … wait for his girlfriend at the
entrance. 7. Children … take care of their parents. 8. I hope he …
speak English well next year. 9. Where are you going for your
holidays? – I haven’t decided yet. I … go to London.

*Exercise
18. Define
the functions of the numbered forms of the Infinitive used in the
text and mark them in the table. Entitle the text. § 11.1.

In
1050 King Edward the Confessor, a very religious man, started to
build (1) a great
church, called Westminster Abbey. To
keep (2) a close
eye on its construction, Edward also built a new home between the
abbey and the river – the Palace of Westminster. It took fifteen
years to erect
(3) the abbey, but its creator couldn’t be happy to
have finished (4)
it because soon after the consecration (освящение)
he died and was buried there.

In
the 1200s King Henry III decided to
pull down (5)
Edward’s abbey and began building the more beautiful one after the
Gothic style then prevailing in France – the church we see today.
To visit
(6) Westminster Abbey is worthwhile if you are interested in British
history. It is the chief church of England, and since 1308 every
king or queen has been crowned there, except for two: Edward V who
was murdered in the Tower of London in 1483, and Edward VII who
abdicated in 1936.

According
to a tradition, the Coronation Chair, carved from oak, is to
be used (7) for
the ceremony of crowning every monarch. Besides, Westminster Abbey
has burial places of many monarchs and great men; Geoffrey Chaucer
was the first poet to
be buried (8)
there in 1400. Isaac Newton’s monument is one of the most
interesting in Westminster Abbey, it is known to
have been executed
(9) in 1731 by the sculptor Michael Rysbrack in white and grey
marble.

The
abbey has also been the place of royal weddings. In 1947 Princess
Elizabeth (the future Queen) was married there to the Duke of
Edinburgh; the marriage took place in the early post-war years, and
Elizabeth still required ration coupons (талоны)
to buy
(10) the material for her gown. The last wedding in April 2011, when
Prince William, Elizabeth’s grandson, was married to Miss
Catherine Middleton, was probably the grandest wedding to
be performed (11)
in Westminster Abbey and to
be televised (12)
all over the world.

Forms Functions	Indefinite Active	Perfect Active	Indefinite Passive	Perfect Passive
Subject
Part of the predicate	1
Object
Attribute
Adverbial

Exercise
19. Complete
the sentences using Active Infinitive or Passive Infinitive. §
11.1.

1.
Marie Tussaud managed (to create /to be created) her first wax
figure, of Voltaire, in 1777, when she was 16. 2. This guide book is
worth (to buy /to be bought) if you want to visit all the places of
interest. 3. The children were delighted (to have brought /to have
been brought) to the circus. 4. Sorry not (to have noticed /to have
been noticed) you. 5. I am glad (to have invited / to have been
invited) to stay with them in their country-house. 6. Diplomacy is
the art (to say /to be said) the nastiest things in the nicest way.
7. Jane ought (to have taught /to have been taught) two foreign
languages. Why wasn’t she, I wonder? 8. Nature has many secrets
(to discover /to be discovered) yet.

*Exercise
20. Paraphrase
using the appropriate form of the Infinitive.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The name of London is derived from a word first attested, in Latinised form, as Londinium. By the first century CE, this was a commercial centre in Roman Britain.

The etymology of the name is uncertain. There is a long history of mythicising etymologies, such as the twelfth-century Historia Regum Britanniae asserting that the city’s name is derived from the name of King Lud who once controlled the city. However, in recent times a series of alternative theories have also been proposed. As of 2017, the trend in scholarly publications supports derivation from a Brittonic form *Londonjon, which would itself have been of Celtic origin.^[1][2]

Attested forms[edit]

Richard Coates, in the 1998 article where he published his own theory of the etymology, lists all the known occurrences of the name up to around the year 900, in Greek, Latin, British and Anglo-Saxon.^[3] Most of the older sources begin with Londin- (Λονδίνιον, Londino, Londinium etc.), though there are some in Lundin-. Later examples are mostly Lundon- or London-, and all the Anglo-Saxon examples have Lunden- with various terminations. He observes that the modern spelling with <o> derives from a medieval writing habit of avoiding <u> between letters composed of minims.

The earliest written mention of London occurs in a letter discovered in London in 2016. Dated AD 65–80, it reads Londinio Mogontio which translates to «In London, to Mogontius».^[4][5][6][7] Mogontio, Mogontiacum is also the Celtic name of the German city Mainz.

Phonology[edit]

Coates (1998) asserts that «It is quite clear that these vowel letters in the earliest forms [viz., Londinium, Lundinium], both <o> and <u>, represent phonemically long vowel sounds». He observes that the ending in Latin sources before 600 is always -inium, which points to a British double termination -in-jo-n.

However, it has long been observed that the proposed Common Brittonic name *Londinjon cannot give either the known Anglo-Saxon form Lunden, or the Welsh form Llundein. Following regular sound changes in the two languages, the Welsh name would have been *Lunnen or similar, and Old English would be *Lynden via i-mutation.^[8]

Coates (1998) tentatively accepts the argument by Jackson (1938)^[9] that the British form was -on-jo-n, with the change to -inium unexplained. Coates speculates further that the first -i- could have arisen by metathesis of the -i- in the last syllable of his own suggested etymon (see below).

Peter Schrijver (2013) by way of explaining the medieval forms Lunden and Llundein considers two possibilities:

• In the local dialect of Lowland British Celtic, which later became extinct, -ond- became -und- regularly, and -ī- became -ei-, leading to Lundeinjon, later Lundein. The Welsh and English forms were then borrowed from this. This hypothesis requires that the Latin form have a long ī: Londīnium.
• The early British Latin dialect probably developed similarly as the dialect of Gaul (the ancestor of Old French). In particular, Latin stressed short i developed first into close-mid /e/, then diphthongised to /ei/. The combination -ond- also developed regularly into -und- in pre-Old French. Thus, he concludes, the remaining Romans of Britain would have pronounced the name as Lundeiniu, later Lundein, from which the Welsh and English forms were then borrowed. This hypothesis requires that the Latin form have a short i: Londinium.

Schrijver therefore concludes that the name of Londinium underwent phonological changes in a local dialect (either British Celtic or British Latin) and that the recorded medieval forms in Welsh and Anglo-Saxon would have been derived from that dialectal pronunciation.

Proposed etymologies[edit]

Celtic[edit]

Coates says (p. 211) that «The earliest non-mythic speculation … centred on the possibility of deriving London from Welsh Llyn din, supposedly ‘lake fort’. But llyn derives from British *lind-, which is incompatible with all the early attestations.^[3] Another suggestion, published in The Geographical Journal in 1899, is that the area of London was previously settled by Belgae who named their outposts after townships in Gallia Belgica. Some of these Belgic toponyms have been attributed to the namesake of London including Limé, Douvrend, and Londinières.^[10]

H. D’Arbois de Jubainville suggested in 1899 that the name meant Londino’s fortress.^[11] But Coates argues that there is no such personal name recorded, and that D’Arbois’ suggested etymology for it (from Celtic *londo-, ‘fierce’) would have a short vowel. Coates notes that this theory was repeated by linguistics up to the 1960s, and more recently still in less specialist works. It was revived in 2013 by Peter Schrijver, who suggested that the sense of the proto-Indo-European root *lend^h— (‘sink, cause to sink’), which gave rise to the Celtic noun *londos (‘a subduing’), survived in Celtic. Combined with the Celtic suffix *-injo— (used to form singular nouns from collective ones), this could explain a Celtic form *londinjon ‘place that floods (periodically, tidally)’. This, in Schrijver’s reading, would more readily explain all the Latin, Welsh, and English forms.^[1] Similar approaches to Schrijver’s have been taken by Theodora Bynon, who in 2016 supported a similar Celtic etymology, while demonstrating that the place-name was borrowed into the West Germanic ancestor-language of Old English, not into Old English itself.^[2]

Coates (1998) proposes a Common Brittonic form of either *Lōondonjon or *Lōnidonjon, which would have become *Lūndonjon and hence Lūndein or Lūndyn. An advantage of the form *Lōnidonjon is that it could account for Latin Londinium by metathesis to *Lōnodinjon. The etymology of this *Lōondonjon would however lie in pre-Celtic Old European hydronymy, from a hydronym *Plowonida, which would have been applied to the Thames where it becomes too wide to ford, in the vicinity of London. The settlement on its banks would then be named from the hydronym with the suffix -on-jon, giving *Plowonidonjon and Insular Celtic *Lowonidonjon. According to this approach, the name of the river itself would be derived from the Indo-European roots *plew- «to flow, swim; boat» and *nejd- «to flow», found in various river names around Europe. Coates does admit that compound names are comparatively rare for rivers in the Indo-European area, but they are not entirely unknown.^[3] Lacey Wallace describes the derivation as «somewhat tenuous».^[12]

Non-Celtic[edit]

Among the first scientific explanations was one by Giovanni Alessio in 1951.^[3][13] He proposed a Ligurian rather than a Celtic origin, with a root *lond-/lont- meaning ‘mud’ or ‘marsh’. Coates’ major criticisms are that this does not have the required long vowel (an alternative form Alessio proposes, *lōna, has the long vowel, but lacks the required consonant), and that there is no evidence of Ligurian in Britain.

Jean-Gabriel Gigot in a 1974 article discusses the toponym of Saint-Martin-de-Londres, a commune in the French Hérault département. Gigot derives this Londres from a Germanic root *lohna, and argues that the British toponym may also be from that source.^[14] But a Germanic etymology is rejected by most specialists.^[15]

Historical and popular suggestions[edit]

The earliest account of the toponym’s derivation can be attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth. In Historia Regum Britanniae, the name is described as originating from King Lud, who seized the city Trinovantum and ordered it to be renamed in his honour as Kaerlud. This eventually developed into Karelundein and then London. However, Geoffrey’s work contains many fanciful suppositions about place-name derivation and the suggestion has no basis in linguistics.^[16]

Other fanciful theories over the years have been:

• William Camden reportedly suggested that the name might come from Brythonic lhwn (modern Welsh Llwyn), meaning «grove», and «town». Thus, giving the origin as Lhwn Town, translating to «city in the grove».^[17]
• John Jackson, writing in the Gentleman’s Magazine in 1792,^[18] challenges the Llyn din theory (see below) on geographical grounds, and suggests instead a derivation from Glynn din – presumably intended as ‘valley city’.
• Some British Israelites claimed that the Anglo-Saxons, assumed to be descendants of the Tribe of Dan, named their settlement lan-dan, meaning «abode of Dan» in Hebrew.^[19]
• An unsigned article in The Cambro Briton for 1821^[20] supports the suggestion of Luna din (‘moon fortress’), and also mentions in passing the possibility of Llong din (‘ship fortress’).
• Several theories were discussed in the pages of Notes and Queries on 27 December 1851,^[21] including Luandun (supposedly «city of the moon», a reference to the temple of Diana supposed to have stood on the site of St Paul’s Cathedral), and Lan Dian or Llan Dian («temple of Diana»). Another correspondent dismissed these, and reiterated the common Llyn din theory.
• In The Cymry of ’76 (1855),^[22] Alexander Jones says that the Welsh name derives from Llyn Dain, meaning ‘pool of the Thames’.
• An 1887 Handbook for Travellers^[23] asserts that «The etymology of London is the same as that of Lincoln» (Latin Lindum).
• The general Henri-Nicolas Frey, in his 1894 book Annamites et extrême-occidentaux: recherches sur l’origine des langues,^[24] emphasises the similarity between the name of the city and the two Vietnamese words lœun and dœun which can both mean «low, inferior, muddy».
• Edward P. Cheney, in his 1904 book A Short History of England (p. 18), attributes the origin of the name to dun: «Elevated and easily defensible spots were chosen [in pre-Roman times], earthworks thrown up, always in a circular form, and palisades placed upon these. Such a fortification was called a dun, and London and the names of many other places still preserve that termination in varying forms.»
• A New Variorum Edition of Shakespeare (1918)^[25] mentions a variant on Geoffrey’s suggestion being Lud’s town, although refutes it saying that the origin of the name was most likely Saxon.

References[edit]

London’s founding can be traced to 43 CE, when the Roman armies began their occupation of Britain under Emperor Claudius. At a point just north of the marshy valley of the River Thames, where two low hills were sited, they established a settlement they called Londinium.

Why was the city of London created?

Roman London (AD 47–410)
Londinium was established as a civilian town by the Romans about four years after the invasion of AD 43. London, like Rome, was founded on the point of the river where it was narrow enough to bridge and the strategic location of the city provided easy access to much of Europe.

Who created London and what was its original name?

Ancient Romans founded a port and trading settlement called Londinium in 43 A.D., and a few years later a bridge was constructed across the Thames to facilitate commerce and troop movements.

Why did the Romans choose London to settle in?

They chose the spot on the River Thames because the River Thames was quick way to transport goods between Britain and the Continent. The Romans saw this and built the town of Londinium around the river’s main crossing point.Around 200 AD, they built a defensive wall around the city called London Wall.

What was the original function of London?

The Romans founded London about 50 AD. Its name is derived from the Celtic word Londinios, which means the place of the bold one. After they invaded Britain in 43 AD the Romans built a bridge across the Thames. They later decided it was an excellent place to build a port.

Roman
When was London founded? London’s founding can be traced to 43 CE, when the Roman armies began their occupation of Britain under Emperor Claudius. At a point just north of the marshy valley of the River Thames, where two low hills were sited, they established a settlement they called Londinium.

What was London’s original name?

Londinium
The name of London is derived from a word first attested, in Latinised form, as Londinium. By the first century CE, this was a commercial centre in Roman Britain.

Where did name London come from?

The origin of the name London is the subject matter of much debate but most historians agree that the name is a derivative of the word Londinium – the name of the port city established around 43 AD by the Romans. It is this ancient settlement that is believed to have grown into present-day London.

Who decided London was the capital?

With the new fort, archaeologists now believe that in the aftermath of the revolt the Romans chose London as their new British political headquarters. It had three key strategic, mercantile and political advantages over Colchester.

Why was London chosen as the capital of England?

As the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms eventually became England in the early 10^th Century, London won out over Winchester as the center of government because of the wealth it amassed from trading.

What did the Romans call England?

Britannia
Britannia (/brɪˈtæniə/) is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin Britannia was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great Britain, and the Roman province of Britain during the Roman Empire.

What did the Romans call York?

Eboracum
Eboracum, the Roman name for York, sounds exotic and Latinised to our ears, and on initial consideration, appears to have little in common with the city’s modern-day name. But in fact, the name York is a direct descendent of the name Eboracum.

What did the Romans call London?

Londinium
The Romans arrived in England about about 2,000 years ago. They called London ‘Londinium‘. The Romans invaded England in AD 43. They landed in Kent, made their way to the River Thames and sailed up it.

How did London get so big?

The city grew really fast because the port of London became one of the most important for the distribution of goods. In mid seventeenth century the city grew to 500’000 inhabitants. A big negative event happened in 1666 as a fire burnt down the biggest part of London.

Why did the name change from Londinium to London?

Ancient names
People lived in the area we now call London long before the Romans arrived.This then became Lowonidonjon in Celtic times, and eventually Londinium. Another theory suggests a Celtic place name of Londinion, either derived from the name of a local chieftain, or the Celtic word lond (meaning ‘wild’).

What’s the oldest city in England?

Colchester
In addition, Colchester has long been known as Britain’s oldest recorded town, based on a reference by the Roman writer, Pliny the Elder. In around AD77 while describing the island of Anglesey, he wrote that ‘it is about 200 miles from Camulodunum a town in Britain’.

How old is the UK?

United Kingdom

United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
• Acts of Union of England and Scotland	1 May 1707
• Acts of Union of Great Britain and Ireland	1 January 1801
• Irish Free State Constitution Act	5 December 1922
Area

Is it London UK or London England?

London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom.

London
Sovereign state	United Kingdom
Country	England
Region	London
Counties	Greater London City of London

Who discovered England?

The first historical mention of the region is from the Massaliote Periplus, a sailing manual for merchants thought to date to the 6th century BC, and Pytheas of Massilia wrote of his voyage of discovery to the island around 325 BC.

What London means?

The place name, recorded by the Roman historian Tacitus in the Latinized form Londinium, is obscure in origin and meaning, but may be derived from pre-Celtic (Old European) roots with a meaning something like ‘place at the navigable or unfordable river’.

What was London before the Romans?

Before the Romans invaded, London didn’t exist, says Roman historian Roger Tomlin at the University of Oxford. There were just “wild west, hillbilly-style settlements” scattered around the area.

Previous page: London in Roman Times

«Londinium» was in fact the Roman adaptation of its native name Llyn Din which means «the City, or Fortress, of the Lake». The derivation of the word is at once apparent: the lake hemmed it in on the south. Then also the valley of the Fleet must have opposed a barrier on the west.

There is little doubt that stream, which had degenerated in later times to a mere rivulet, must have been a considerable river, up which the tide flowed for some distance. The view was very different then; and very different again in countless ages before, in post-Pliocene times.

The drift gravel at Charing Cross has yielded up the bones of the mammoth, rhinoceros; cave lion, and Irish elk, the great red deer and two species of ox, the urus and longifrons.

How strange must the scene of this river have been then, if, indeed, it existed at that remote period. Fascinating as the subject may be, we must pass on to historic times, and take up the story of this noble stream when it first figures in records.

Passing by Herodotus, Aristotle, and Polybius, whose notices are but vague, we come to the period when the legions of Imperial Rome first extended their conquests to these remote shores : to the landing of Julius Caesar, the defeat of Cassivelaunus, the subsequent gradual subjugation under Aulus Plautius and Vespasian, and the final noble stand made by Caractacus.

During that period nearly the whole of the South of England had been colonised by the Romans, and Londinium, had become an important town with walls and gates, the chief residence of merchants, whose ships were moored beneath its walls.

Next page: Boadicea

• Roman London — Introduction
• 1 — Llyn Din, Londondium
• 2 — Boadicea
• 3 — Roman building
• 4 — The Roman Bridge
• 5 — Tacitus
• 6 — Artifacts from Roman London
• 7 — More Artifacts
• 8 — A city prospers
• 9 — The rise of the Saxons
• 10 — Canute
• 11 — Canute sails by
• 12 — Descriptive View of London
• 13 — Harold Harefoot

London, the capital city of England and the United Kingdom, is one of the most visited cities in the world. A city steeped in culture, London boasts of a history dating back many centuries. The origin of the name London is the subject matter of much debate but most historians agree that the name is a derivative of the word Londinium – the name of the port city established around 43 AD by the Romans. It is this ancient settlement that is believed to have grown into present-day London.

London’s Original Name

The debate starts with the fact that Londinium itself was referred to by other names such as Londiniensi, Londiniensium, and Londinio. This in itself should not be much of a worry given the similarity in the names. The real differences start when we wonder why the Romans decided to call their settlement on the Thames Londinium.

The Celts who lived in the region before the Roman invasion probably referred to it as Llan Dian. This literally means Temple of Diana and could have been a reference to the system of Dianic worship practiced here. The name could also have been derived from the Welsh words Llyn Dain meaning a Fort by a Pool (of the River Thames) or even from Glynn Din meaning Valley City.

Going further back in history, experts suggest that the Celts may have themselves been influenced by pre-Celtic tribes that inhabited the region, in the matter of London’s nomenclature. It looks possible that the region was called Plowonida. This comes from the words plew and need from the Pre-Celtic languages spoken in these parts. Plowonida suggests a wide basin of a flowing river and could have been a reference to the Thames. The Celtic language does not assimilate the “P” sound of most pre-Celtic words and this could have been the source of the Celtic name for London.

Another account of the name London was put forth by the controversial 12th-century writer Geoffrey of Monmouth. In his ‘The History of the Kings of Britain’ (Historia Regum Britanniae) Geoffrey says that King Lud (the brother of Cassivellaunus, contemporary of Julius Caesar) seized control of the ancient city of Trinovatum and renamed it Kaerlud, or Lud’s City. Thereafter, Kaerlud became Kaerlundein, and eventually London. Geoffrey’s works, however, are so full of fantasy, that it is quite impossible to glean historic facts from them.

There are numerous other theories, each more fanciful than the other about the origins of London’s name. These make a good read but in the absence of written records, each is difficult to prove.

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