Visigoth

[viz-i-goth]

noun

1. a member of the westerly division of the Goths, which formed a monarchy about a.d. 418, maintaining it in southern France until 507 and in Spain until 711.

Visigoth

/ ˈvɪzɪˌɡɒθ /

noun

1. a member of the western group of the Goths, who were driven into the Balkans in the late 4th century _ad . Moving on, they sacked Rome (410) and established a kingdom in present-day Spain and S France that lasted until 711

Other Word Forms

• Visigothic adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of Visigoth¹

1605–15; < Late Latin Visigothī (plural) < Germanic, equivalent to unattested wisi- (cognate with west ) + goth- Goth ¹ ( def. )

Word History and Origins

Origin of Visigoth¹

C17: from Late Latin Visigothī (pl), of Germanic origin, visi- perhaps meaning: west

Example Sentences

In Rome it was free food and entertainment and don’t look now but the Visigoths are coming.

From Salon

In 1929, it rampaged through Florida’s ag business like Visigoths sacking Rome.

From Los Angeles Times

Students and administrators alike hate him, and the feeling is mutual; terms Hunham describes his overprivileged charges with range from “genuine troglodytes” to “snarling Visigoths.”

From Los Angeles Times

And a good thing too, since in Paul’s own estimation, Barton boys are, with rare exception, a hopeless bunch of “philistines,” “reprobates,” “troglodytes,” “degenerates,” “hormonal vulgarians,” “fetid layabouts” and “snarling Visigoths.”

From Los Angeles Times

The Vandals and Visigoths must have felt that way; Donatello and Brunelleschi no less.

From Washington Post