Talk:μέδος

@KIeio, wondering if you can elucidate this (is it necessarily Gothic, or could it be from an indeterminate Germanic source?). —Μετάknowledge^{discuss/deeds} 19:52, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

Priscus of Panium, the apparent sole source of this word, apparently (could only find incomplete English translations on the web :/) mentions it in the context of a journey along various rivers in roughly what is now western Romania. Gothic would definitely have been spoken in that region from roughly the second half of the second century until at the very least some decades after it was overrun by the Huns (and probably beyond that) around the reign of Attila (whose court Priscus visited; second quarter of the 5th century). It therefore doesn't seem implausible at all to me that Gothic would be spoken in Priscus' day in the villages in that area, where he mentions he encountered the médos. In any case, the word is Germanic in form and corresponds reasonably closely to the Gothic *𐌼𐌹𐌳𐌿𐍃 (*midus) one would expect based on *meduz. Gothic thus seems a very likely candidate, especially since AFAIK the Goths were the only Germanic people in that area around that time. — Kleio (t · c) 21:28, 14 November 2016 (UTC)

@Metaknowledge Having learned a bit more about the distribution of Slavic languages in the area around this time, I've come to doubt my 'certain' Gothic conclusion and have adjusted the etymology. — Kleio (t · c) 21:00, 9 June 2017 (UTC)