Latgallia
/lætˈɡæliə/noun
A historical Latin name for Latgale, the eastern region of present-day Latvia.
Did you know?Medieval and early modern sources used several spellings—including Latgallia, Lettgallia, and Latgalia—because the region’s name was being filtered through different German, Latin, and Baltic writing traditions.
Etymological Timeline
Early Medieval Period
Baltic
*Latgal-
“Reconstructed ancestral form associated with the Latgalian ethnonym; its first element remains uncertain.”
13th Century
German/Latin
Lettgallen / Lettigallia
“Names used in medieval sources for the Latgalian people and their eastern Baltic territory.”
13th–16th Century
Latin
Latgallia
“Latinized territorial name for the land of the Latgalians.”
17th–19th Century
German/Latin
Lettgallen / Latgalia
“Variant historical names used in maps and scholarly descriptions of the region.”
Modern English
English
Latgallia
“A historical or Latinized name for Latgale, a region of eastern Latvia.”
Explore more surprising origins