a) It comes from 'Tamesis', which is a Latin adaptation of the original Celtic name. The Celtic name may have meant 'the dark one' or it could just have meant 'river'. There are also three rivers in England called 'the Tame', one called 'the Team', one called 'the Tamar' and one called 'the Thame', as well as the town of Thame. The names of all of these have probably come from either of the same two origins, i.e. 'the dark one' or 'river'.
b) It may come from the Celtic 'tam' (= widening) plus 'isis' (= river); or possibly from the Indo-European root 'ta-' (= to flow).
2007-01-23 11:55:10
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answer #1
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answered by deedsallan 3
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The river's name appears always to have been pronounced with a simple "t" at the beginning; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and Latin Tamesis. The "th" lends an air of Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus region of Greece, whence early Celtic tribes are thought to have migrated. However, most scholars now believe Temese and Tamesis come from Celtic (Brythonic) Tamesa, possibly meaning 'the dark one'.
The name Isis, given to the part of the river running through Oxford, may have come from the Egyptian goddess of that name but is believed to be a contraction of Tamesis, the Latin (or pre-Roman Celtic) name. Richard Coates has recently suggested that the river was called the Thames upriver, where it was narrower and Plowonida down river, where it was too wide to ford. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the original root Plowonida (derived from pre-celtic Old European 'plew' and 'nejd,' meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river). For merchant seamen, it has long been just 'The London River'.
2007-01-22 21:00:59
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answer #2
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answered by gebobs 6
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The river's name appears always to have been pronounced with a simple "t" at the beginning; the Middle English spelling was typically Temese and Latin Tamesis. The "th" lends an air of Greek to the name and was added during the Renaissance, possibly to reflect or support a belief that the name was derived from River Thyamis in the Epirus region of Greece, whence early Celtic tribes are thought to have migrated. However, most scholars now believe Temese and Tamesis come from Celtic (Brythonic) Tamesa, possibly meaning 'the dark one'.
The name Isis, given to the part of the river running through Oxford, may have come from the Egyptian goddess of that name but is believed to be a contraction of Tamesis, the Latin (or pre-Roman Celtic) name. Richard Coates has recently suggested that the river was called the Thames upriver, where it was narrower and Plowonida down river, where it was too wide to ford. This gave the name to a settlement on its banks, which became known as Londinium, from the original root Plowonida (derived from pre-celtic Old European 'plew' and 'nejd,' meaning something like the flowing river or the wide flowing unfordable river). For merchant seamen, it has long been just 'The London River'. [2]
lol she did what i did
oops he
2007-01-22 21:09:19
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answer #3
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answered by RHONDA P 3
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The river Thames upriver is named Isis and only becomes the Thames when it passes through the town of Thame near Oxford
2007-01-23 00:00:23
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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I was taught that the name Thames comes from the Roman "Tam" meaning wide and "Isis" meaning water.
2007-01-22 21:47:55
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answer #5
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answered by ☞H.Potter☜ 6
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