Etymologies

Greek and Roman authors who wrote about Gaul or Britain between the second century BCE and the fourth century CE designated the religious specialists and scholars there as ‘druids.’ Two etymologies are adduced: (a) In the Celtic dru-vides, ‘much knowing’ or ‘farseeing,’ could be the correct one (the Old Irish drúitheach means ‘impressive,’ ‘piercing,’ ‘influential’); (b) the other conjectural derivation, ‘oak expert,’ goes back to Pliny the Elder…