Goths
/ɡɒθs/noun
A Germanic people who played a major role in the history of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages.
Did you know?The word is historically tied to a specific Germanic ethnonym, and the spooky “gothic” vibe came much later when Renaissance and Romantic writers linked medieval architecture to a supposedly barbaric past.
Etymological Timeline
Ancient Roman era
Latin
Gothi
“The Goths; a Germanic people known to Roman writers”
Late Antiquity
Greek
Γότθοι (Góthoi)
“The Goths”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*Gutôz / *Gutaniz
“The Goths; an early Germanic ethnonym”
Modern English
English
Goths
“The historical Germanic people; later also the name of a subculture inspired by dark aesthetics”