The Etymology of Edinburgh shows that the origin of the city's name is understood to come from the Brythonic Din Eidyn (Fort of Eidyn) from the time when it was a Gododdin hillfort. The Brythonic languages (or Brittonic languages or British languages) form one of the two branches of the Insular Celtic language family the other being The Gododdin (goˈdoðin were a Brythonic people of north-eastern Britain (modern north-east England and south-east Scotland) in the sub-Roman A hill fort is a fortified refuge or defended settlement ^[1] In the 1st century the Romans recorded the Votadini as a Brythonic tribe in the area, and about 600 A. The Roman Empire was the post-Republican phase of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial The Votadini (the Wotādīnī, or Votādīnī) were a people of the Iron Age in Great Britain, and their territory was briefly part of the D. the poem Y Gododdin, using the Brythonic form of that name, describes warriors feasting "in Eidin's great hall". Y Gododdin (pronounced /ə gɔ'dɔðɪn/ is a medieval Welsh poem consisting of a series of elegies to the men of the Brythonic kingdom of ^[1] After it was besieged by the Bernician Angles, the name changed to Edin-burh, which some have argued derives from the Anglo-Saxon for "Edwin's fort", possibly derived from the 7th century king Edwin of Northumbria. Bernicia was an Anglo-Saxon kingdom established by Anglian settlers of the 6th century in what is now the South-East of Scotland and the North-East of The Angles is a modern English word for a Germanic-speaking people who took their name from the cultural ancestral region of Angeln, a modern district located in Saint Edwin (alternately Eadwine or Æduini) (c 586 &ndash 12 October 632/633 was the King of Deira and Bernicia - which would However, since the name apparently predates King Edwin, this is highly unlikely. The burgh element means "fortress" or "group of buildings", i. A Burgh (ˈbʌʀə is an autonomous corporate entity in Scotland, usually a Town. e. a town or city and is akin to the German burg, Latin parcus, Greek pyrgos etc. The German language (de ''Deutsch'') is a West Germanic language and one of the world's major languages. Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Greek (el ελληνική γλώσσα or simply el ελληνικά — "Hellenic" is an Indo-European language, spoken today by 15-22 million people mainly

The first evidence of the existence of the town as a separate entity from the fort lies in an early 12th century royal charter, generally thought to date from 1124, by King David I granting land to the Church of the Holy Rood of Edinburgh. A Royal Charter is a Charter granted by the Sovereign on the advice of the Privy council to legitimize an incorporated body such as a city company David I or Dabíd mac Maíl Choluim ( Modern: Daibhidh I mac Chaluim; b Holyrood Abbey is a ruined Augustinian Abbey in Edinburgh, Scotland. This suggests that the town came into official existence between 1018 (when King Malcolm II secured the Lothians from the Northumbrians) and 1124. Máel Coluim mac Cináeda ( Modern Gaelic: Maol Chaluim mac Choinnich) known in modern Anglicized regnal lists as Malcolm II (c ^[2]

The charter refers to the recipients (in Latin) as "Ecclisie Sancte Crucis Edwinesburgensi". Latin ( lingua Latīna, laˈtiːna is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. This could mean that those who drafted the charter believed Edwin to be the original source of the name and decided to derive the Latin from what they believed to be the ancient name. It could also mean that at some point in the preceding 600 years the name had altered to include a w. If the latter scenario was the case then it was soon to change; by the 1170s King William the Lion was using the name "Edenesburch" in a charter (again in Latin) confirming the 1124 grant of David I. William I ( Mediaeval Gaelic: Uilliam mac Eanric; Modern Gaelic Uilleam mac Eanraig) known as the Lion or Garbh, "the Rough"

Documents from the 14th century show the name to have settled into its current form; although other spellings ("Edynburgh" and "Edynburghe") appear, these are simply spelling variants of the current name.

Other names

Detail of the Hereford Mappa Mundi, Edinburgh is clearly labeled on this T and O map of the British isles from c. The Hereford Mappa Mundi is a T and O map derivate, dating to ca A T and O map or O-T or T-O map ( orbis terrae, orb or circle of the earth is a type of Medieval World map, sometimes also called 1300

The city is affectionately nicknamed Auld Reekie, Scots for Old Smoky. Scots ( The Scots leid) refers to Anglic varieties derived from early northern Middle English spoken in parts of Scotland and Northern This is because when the only fuels available were coal and wood, all the chimneys would spew lots of smoke into the air.

Some have called Edinburgh the Athens of the North for a variety of reasons. The earliest comparison between the two cities showed that they had a similar topography, with the Old Town of Edinburgh performing a similar role to the Athenian Acropolis. Athens (ˈæθənz Αθήνα Athina,) the Capital and largest city of Greece, dominates the Attica periphery as one of the world's The Acropolis of Athens is the best known Acropolis (high city The "Sacred Rock" in the world Both of them had flatter, fertile agricultural land sloping down to a port several miles away (respectively Leith and Piraeus). ||-||-|-||-||-||-||-||-||-|} A port is a facility for receiving Ships and transferring cargo Formerly a municipal Burgh, Leith (Lìte is a district in the north of the city of Edinburgh at the mouth of the Water of Leith and is the port Piraeus (pɪˈræʊs Πειραιάς, piɾeˈas Πειραιεύς, piɾeˈefs is a city in the periphery of Attica, Greece, and a Although this arrangement is common in Southern Europe, it is rare in Northern Europe. The term Southern Europe can have four definitions geographical political climatic phytogeographic Northern Europe is a term for the northern part of Europe. The United Nations defines Northern Europe as (Finland The 18th century intellectual life, referred to as the Scottish Enlightenment, was a key influence in gaining the name. The Scottish Enlightenment was the period in 18th century Scotland characterised by an outpouring of intellectual and scientific accomplishments Such beacons as David Hume and Adam Smith shone during this period. David Hume (26 April 1711 25 August 1776 Scottish Philosopher, Economist, and Historian is an important figure in Western philosophy Adam Smith ( baptised 16 June 1723 – 17 July 1790) was a Scottish moral philosopher and a pioneer of Political economy. Having lost most of its political importance after the Union, some hoped that Edinburgh could gain a similar influence on London as Athens had on Rome. The Acts of Union were a pair of Parliamentary Acts passed during 1706 and 1707 by the Parliament of England and the Parliament of Scotland to put into Also a contributing factor was the later neoclassical architecture, particularly that of William Henry Playfair, and the National Monument. Neoclassicism (sometimes rendered as Neo-Classicism or Neo-classicism) is the name given to quite distinct movements in the decorative and William Henry Playfair (1790-1857 was one of the greatest Scottish architects of the 19th Century The National Monument, Edinburgh is Scotland 's memorial to those who died in the Napoleonic Wars. Tom Stoppard's character Archie, of Jumpers, said, facetiously, that the "Reykjavík of the South" would be more appropriate. Sir Tom Stoppard OM, CBE (born 3 July 1937 is a British Screenwriter playwright For other uses see Jumper Jumpers is a 1972 play by Tom Stoppard. For the Greater Reykjavík Area see the Greater Reykjavík Area. ^[3]

Edinburgh has also been known as Dunedin, deriving from the Scottish Gaelic, Dùn Èideann. Scottish Gaelic ( Gàidhlig) is a member of the Goidelic branch of Celtic languages. Dunedin, New Zealand, was originally called "New Edinburgh" and is still nicknamed the "Edinburgh of the South". Dunedin (dəˈneɪdɪn) Ōtepoti in Maori is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the region of

The Scots poets Robert Burns and Robert Fergusson sometimes used the city's Latin name, Edina, in their work. Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796 (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, the Bard of Ayrshire For other uses see Bob Ferguson Robert Fergusson ( September 5, 1750 - October 16, 1774) Ben Jonson described it as Britaine's other eye, and Sir Walter Scott referred to the city as yon Empress of the North. Benjamin Jonson ( c 11 June 1572 &ndash 6 August 1637) was an English Renaissance Dramatist Sir Walter Scott 1st Baronet (15 August 1771 &ndash 21 September 1832 was a prolific Scottish Historical novelist and Poet popular throughout

References