Note 3540 — DID LONDINIUM EXIST IN CAESAR’S TIME?

London is commonly derived from two Celtic words—llyn, din—meaning ‘the lake fort’ (see Geogr. Journal, xiii, 1899, p. 299). One objection to this etymology is that Mr. F. C. J. Spurrell (Archaeol. Journal, xlii, 1885, pp. 300-2) has proved that the lake, which was described so picturesquely by J. R. Green (The Making of England, i, 1897, p. 113) did not exist. Moreover, Dr. Henry Bradley (Morning Post, Jan. 8, 1907, p. 4, col. 3) tells us that ‘the only explanation which is philologically possible is that it [Londinium] denoted a plot of ground belonging to a person named Londinos, which means “fierce”’.