Wurdahuzdą: Proto-Germanic dictionary — *finnazScott K. ShayWardja Presshttps://protogermanic.org/pgmc_finnaz
Single-entry extract from the dictionary. Cross-references to other entries point to their identifiers in the full dictionary.
Onomatologiska anmärkningar till T. E. Karstens Germanisch-finnische LehnwortstudienHjalmarLindrothNamn och bygd519-521917
nounmasculinea-stemSamiUncertain. Lindroth 1917 disputes the typical *finþaną (‘to find’) origin via an alleged agent noun meaning ‘seeker, wanderer, nomad’, as morphologically and historically doubtful: the earliest external forms, Tacitus’ Fenni and Ptolemy’s Φίννοι (phinnoi), point directly to *finn- rather than to an expected form with a dental at such an early stage of borrowing. The name may instead have originated as a northern Proto-Germanic personal name turned ethnonym based on, or secondarily associated with, a locality/terrain name: Finn- (cf. Danr/Dane, Eistr/Estonian), but regards the ultimate meaning as obscure.