Aestii

Etymology

Uncertain. Most often connected with Germanic roots, e.g. Proto-Germanic *aistāną (“to respect”), *aistaz (“kiln”) (the first two perhaps through Gothic, the latter perhaps with a shift to "grain drying room") or *austrą (“east”) (the latter is phonetically difficult to reconcile).

Another theory links it with a Baltic name, perhaps related to Latvian Aistere, a village located in modern Latvia (perhaps deriving from a word meaning "field, land").^[1][2]

Pronunciation

• (Classical Latin) IPA^(key): /ˈae̯s.ti.iː/, [ˈäe̯s̠t̪iː]
• (modern Italianate Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈes.ti.i/, [ˈɛst̪iː]

Proper noun

Aestiī m pl (genitive Aestiōrum); second declension

1. A tribe settled in the Baltic region and bordering on the Venedi

References

• Aestii in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.