Merovingian
UK /ˌmɛ.ɹəˈvɪn.dʒɪ.ən/ · US /ˌmɛɹ.əˈvɪn.dʒi.ən/ adjective, noun
Forms Merovingians
- adjective Of or relating to the Merovings, the members of a Salian Frankish dynasty, descended from Merovech, that came to rule the Franks in a region (known as Francia in Latin) largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century, and whose politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family.
- noun A member of the Merovingian dynasty.
Synonyms
Etymology
From Middle French Merovingien (“of or relating to the Merovings, the descendants of Merovech”), from Medieval Latin Merovingī (“Merovings”) [plural of Merovingus, ultimately from Proto-West Germanic *Mārīwīg (a male given name composed of *mārī (“famous”) + *wīg (“fight”)) + *-ing] + Middle French -ien. (See Meroving for more.) By surface analysis, Meroving + -ian.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Of or pertaining to the first Frankish dynasty in Gaul or France.
- adjective One of the kings of this dynasty.
Etymology [From Merovaeus, the Latin name of a king of the Franks.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “Merovingian”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details