Ītalíā

Ītal-íā, agr. Ῑ̓τᾰλῐ́ᾱ Italien

Uncertain.

According to the most widely accepted explanation, is an early borrowing from Oscan 𐌅𐌝𐌕𐌄𐌋𐌉𐌞 (víteliú, “land of young cattle”) or a related Italic language with /w/ in the anlaut disappearing in Greek before the classical period, and later reanalyzed as Ῑ̓τᾰλός (Ītalós) +‎ -ῐ́ᾱ (-íā).

In such case, derived from Proto-Italic *wetelos (“yearling, calf”), from Proto-Indo-European *wet- (“year”).

Pronunciation

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• IPA^(key): /iː.ta.lí.aː/ → /i.taˈli.a/ → /i.taˈli.a/

Proper noun

Ῑ̓τᾰλῐ́ᾱ • (Ītalíā) f (genitive Ῑ̓τᾰλῐ́ᾱς); first declension

1. (Classical Ancient Greek) southernmost Italy, roughly corresponding to modern Calabria
2. Italy (an ancient region in Southern Europe, corresponding to modern Italy)