*airuz

Of uncertain origin. Orel's (2003: s.v. *airaz) derivation from *airi leaves both the derivational morphology and the semantic development unexplained. It may continue a substantivized verbal adjective *h₁ey-ru-s, from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey-, with the semantic development ‘traveler’ → ‘emissary, messenger’ (Krahe & Meid 1969: 80; Wood 1898: 82). Mees (2022a: 288 n. 3) instead connects *airuz with *arundiją and proposes that both were formed from a verbal base ultimately related to Latin ōrō, borrowed through Gaulish *ār-. This interpretation is semantically attractive but remains speculative, since the Gaulish intermediate is unattested and the development of *ār- to the *air- of *airuz would have to be analogical.