Volcae

English

Noun

Volcae pl (plural only)

1. (historical) A Gallic tribal confederation that invaded Macedonia c. 270 BC and fought the assembled Greeks at the Battle of Thermopylae in 279 BC.

Latin

Etymology

Possibly from Proto-Celtic *wolkos (“hawk”) (cf. the personal names Gaulish Catuvolcus and Welsh Cadwalch (“Battle-hawk”)), or alternatively (but less likely) Proto-Celtic *ulkʷos (“wolf”), in turn from Proto-Indo-European *wĺ̥kʷos, as Caesar described the Celts having fought with huge dogs.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈu̯ol.kae̯/, [ˈu̯ɔɫ̪käe̯]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈvol.t͡ʃe/, [ˈvɔl̠ʲt͡ʃe]

Proper noun

Volcae m pl (genitive Volcārum); first declension

1. (ancient history) A Gallic tribal confederation of Gallia Narbonensis whose chief towns were Nemausus and Tolosa.

Declension

First-declension noun, plural only.

	plural
nominative	Volcae
genitive	Volcārum
dative	Volcīs
accusative	Volcās
ablative	Volcīs
vocative	Volcae

Further reading

• “Volcae”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• Volcae in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.
• “Volcae”, in William Smith, editor (1854, 1857), A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Geography, volume 1 & 2, London: Walton and Maberly