Galatian

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. A person born in or living in Galatia, an ancient region of central Asia Minor ; of, or relating to that region or its people
2. An inhabitant of the ancient territory of Galatia in central Asia Minor ; describing anything connected with that region or the peoples who lived there
3. Someone from Galatia, the historical province in central Asia Minor ; characteristic of or belonging to that ancient land and its inhabitants

Etymology: Galatia was an ancient region in central Asia Minor, named for the Gauls (Celts) who migrated there and settled in the third century BC. The people of Galatia were therefore a community with a Celtic origin living in a Greek-speaking world, and the English adjective "Galatian" simply means someone or something from that region. The word is built in the most ordinary way: "Galatia" plus the suffix "-an," which English took from Latin "-ānus" through Old French "-ain" and Middle English "-an." This suffix turns place names into adjectives and nouns for their inhabitants, as with "Roman," "American," or "Lutheran." Nothing about the formation is unusual. The name is most familiar from the New Testament, where Paul of Tarsus wrote a letter to the churches of Galatia. Readers of English Bibles therefore meet "Galatians" as the title of a book rather than as a description of a people, which is why the word often appears with a capital letter and a religious sense.