From 1898, it was commonly accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos; this explanation has since been rejected. Richard Coates put forward an explanation in 1998 that it is derived from the pre-Celtic Old European *(p)lowonida, meaning 'river too wide to ford', and suggested that this was a name given to the part of the River Thames which flows through London; from this, the settlement gained the Celtic form of its name, *Lowonidonjon; this requires quite a serious amendment however. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *(h)lōndinion (as opposed to *londīnion), from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. COUNT 5
QSN1 Early consensus was that London's name originated in what language? ANS1 Celtic QSN2 What is the meaning of the later-believed pre-Celtic Old European origin of London's name? ANS2 'river too wide to ford QSN3 What is the modern Welsh form o the word London? ANS3 Llundain QSN4 Who came up with an explanation of the origins of London's name that contradicted earlier assumptions ANS4 Richard Coates QSN5 In what year did Richard Coates offer a differing explanation as to the origins of London's name? ANS5 1998