Die etymologische Herleitung des Namens Latium

The aim of this study is to refute the standard etymology of the placename Latium on the one hand and to propose a new etymology on the other. The standard etymology is semantically 160 years old and formally more than 90 years old and traces Latium as *(s)tlǝ-t-jo-m 'flatland' back to an ie. etymon *stelH2- (trad. *stelǝ- : 'ausbreiten, flach hinbreiten') or *telh2- (trad. *telǝ- : 'flach, flacher Boden, Brett'). Linguistical and filological considerations, however, preclude the possibility of this etymology and make room for a new one, i.e. for the deduction of the placename Latium as *latjom 'marshland, moorland' from the ie. etymon *lh2t- (trad. *lat- : 'nass, feucht').