Lotharingian

Part of speech: adjective, noun

Definitions

1. Of or pertaining to Lotharingia, the historical medieval realm that lay between the Frankish kingdoms of the 9th century
2. Belonging to or characteristic of Lotharingia, the territory in central Europe that existed as a distinct political entity in the early medieval period
3. Associated with Lotharingia, the historical region that emerged from the division of the Carolingian Empire

Etymology: Lotharingia was the name given to a middle kingdom carved out of the Carolingian empire in 843, named after Lothair I, grandson of Charlemagne, who received the territory in the division of his father Louis the Pious's realm. Its core lay between the Rhine and the Meuse, and the name survived long after the kingdom itself was absorbed into its neighbours, preserved as a regional label for the lands of present-day Lorraine and nearby areas. The adjective "Lotharingian" is simply that place name with the suffix "-n" added, the usual way English turns a place into a word meaning "of or from that place." The word therefore carries no meaning beyond its geography: it describes people, things or matters connected with Lotharingia, and it appears mainly in historical and scholarly writing about the medieval West Frankish and German borderlands. Its interest lies less in any surprising shift of sense than in the way a short-lived royal kingdom's name outlived the kingdom and became a durable term for a region.