The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, "foreigner", "stranger", a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to Romance-speaking and Celtic neighbours. As such, it shares its history with several ethnic names all across Europe, including the Welsh and Walloons. Slavic people initially used the name Vlachs when referring to Romanic people in general. Later on, the meaning became narrower or just different. For example, Italy is called Włochy in Polish, and Olaszország ("Olasz country") in Hungarian (although it is disputed, because the word "oláh" also exists in Hungarian, but describes only peoples from historical Moldova and Wallacha). In the Old English poem Widsith, the Romans are referred to as Romwalas. The word Vlach may originate from the Albanian word Vëlla (alb. geg dialect: vlla) which means Brother. It might also be a surviving word from the ancient Thraco-Illyrian language since the Thracian and Illyrian languages were considered to be close to each other.
It shares its etymology with "Italy" itself, from the name of the tribe now generally called the Vitali who colonised the Italian peninsula. Its actual name might have been something like Víteliú, but anyway Italy, Włochy and the "Olasz-" part of Olaszország, the Hungarian name for Italy, come from the same root.
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The word Vlach is ultimately of Germanic origin, from the word Walha, "foreigner", "stranger", a name used by ancient Germanic peoples to refer to Romance-speaking and Celtic neighbours. As such, it shares its history with several ethnic names all across Europe, including the Welsh and Walloons. Slavic people initially used the name Vlachs when referring to Romanic people in general. Later on, the meaning became narrower or just different. For example, Italy is called Włochy in Polish, and Olaszország ("Olasz country") in Hungarian (although it is disputed, because the word "oláh" also exists in Hungarian, but describes only peoples from historical Moldova and Wallacha). In the Old English poem Widsith, the Romans are referred to as Romwalas. The word Vlach may originate from the Albanian word Vëlla (alb. geg dialect: vlla) which means Brother. It might also be a surviving word from the ancient Thraco-Illyrian language since the Thracian and Illyrian languages were considered to be close to each other.
It shares its etymology with "Italy" itself, from the name of the tribe now generally called the Vitali who colonised the Italian peninsula. Its actual name might have been something like Víteliú, but anyway Italy, Włochy and the "Olasz-" part of Olaszország, the Hungarian name for Italy, come from the same root.