Veps
/vɛps/noun
A Finnic people of northwestern Russia and their Finnic language.
Did you know?The Veps language preserves distinctive Finnic features, but the ultimate origin of the ethnonym Veps remains uncertain rather than having a securely decoded ancient meaning.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval period
Proto-Finnic
*vepsä
“A reconstructed form associated with the Veps ethnonym; its deeper meaning is uncertain.”
11th–15th centuries
Old Russian
весь (vesʹ)
“The name used in East Slavic sources for the Veps people.”
16th–19th centuries
Russian
вепсы (vepsy)
“The Veps people; the modern Russian plural ethnonym.”
19th century
Finnic scholarship
vepsä
“A form used in linguistic and ethnographic descriptions of the people and language.”
Modern English
English
Veps
“The established English name for the Finnic people, language, and related cultural identity.”