Gaeta
/ɡaˈeːta/noun
A historic coastal city and municipality in Lazio, Italy, on the Gulf of Gaeta.
Did you know?Virgil’s Aeneid says Caieta, the nurse of Aeneas, was buried there, giving the city a legendary origin; historians, however, regard the name’s true pre-Roman origin as uncertain.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Roman period
Unknown Italic
*Caieta
“An ancient place-name of uncertain origin, probably predating Roman rule.”
1st Century BCE
Latin
Caieta
“The name of the coastal settlement; the form used in Roman literary and geographic sources.”
1st Century BCE
Latin
Caieta
“In Virgil’s Aeneid, the name is connected to Caieta, Aeneas’s nurse, who was said to have been buried there.”
Late Antiquity
Latin
Caieta
“The established Latin name for the harbor and settlement on the Gulf of Gaeta.”
Middle Ages
Italian
Gaeta
“The medieval Italian form that developed from Latin Caieta.”
Modern English
English
Gaeta
“The modern name of the Italian city, also used in English historical and geographical writing.”