Visigoth

[ viz-i-goth ]

noun

1. a member of the westerly division of the Goths, which formed a monarchy about a.d. 418, maintaining it in southern France until 507 and in Spain until 711.

Visigoth

/ ˈvɪzɪˌɡɒθ /

noun

1. a member of the western group of the Goths, who were driven into the Balkans in the late 4th century ad . Moving on, they sacked Rome (410) and established a kingdom in present-day Spain and S France that lasted until 711

Derived Forms

• ˌVisiˈgothic, adjective

Other Words From

• Visi·gothic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Visigoth¹

1605–15; < Late Latin Visigothī (plural) < Germanic, equivalent to unattested wisi- (cognate with west ) + goth- Goth ¹( def )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Visigoth¹

C17: from Late Latin Visigothī (pl), of Germanic origin, visi- perhaps meaning: west

Example Sentences

The word may have some connexion with a corruption of Visigoth, a suggestion to which the use in the Girard romance lends colour.

From Project Gutenberg

The Visigoth kingdom, which had stood for three centuries, had passed its meridian.

From Project Gutenberg

Toledo, the capital of the Visigoth Kings, is the city about which cluster the richest memories of Spain in her heroic age.

From Project Gutenberg

The Visigoth monarchy, although in many cases hereditary, was in fact elective.

From Project Gutenberg

This romance, lying at the very root of a Gothic dynasty in Spain, marks the earliest beginnings of a line of Visigoth kings.

From Project Gutenberg