Langobards

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Members of a Germanic tribal people who invaded and settled northern Italy in the sixth century, giving the region its name Lombardy
2. A early medieval Germanic group, also called the Lombards, that conquered much of the Italian peninsula's north after 568 CE
3. The Germanic people who migrated into Italy in the late sixth century and founded a kingdom centred on Pavia

Etymology: The Lombards were a Germanic people who migrated into Italy in 568 and founded a kingdom there that lasted until Charlemagne conquered it in 774. Their name is usually explained as "long beard," from Proto-Germanic roots meaning "long" and "beard," though the story behind it is not recorded in any reliable source and is best treated as a guess about how the name arose. "Langobards" is simply the plural of "Langobard," the Latin-influenced form of the name that English took directly from Latin "langobardus," meaning "a Lombard." That Latin term reflects the earlier Lombardic form "langbart." The English word "Lombard" is a doublet of this name, having come through French and Italian routes, so the same people appear in English under two forms, one learned and one more familiar.