Editing Belisama (section)

== Name ==
[[File:Dédicace de Segomaros (inscription gallo-grecque).png|thumb|photograph of the "Segomaros" inscription]]The Gaulish [[theonym]] ''Belesama'' has been traditionally interpreted as meaning 'the very bright', stemming from the [[Indo-European]] root ''*bʰelH-'' ('white, shining'; cf. Lith. ''báltas'' 'white', Greek φαλόσ ''phalós'' 'white', Arm. ''bal'' 'pallor', goth. ''bala'' 'grey') attached to the superlative suffix *-''isamā''. As for ''[[Belenos]]'', however, this theory has come under increasing criticism in contemporary scholarship.{{sfn|Schrijver|1999|pp=29–30}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=71–72}}

[[Xavier Delamarre]] notes that the proposed [[cognate]]s stemming from ''*bʰelH-'' do not seem to connote 'shining', but rather 'white, grey, pale', and proposes to derive the name from the Gaulish root ''belo''- ('strong, powerful'), rendering ''Belesama'' as 'the very strong' (cf. Sanskrit ''baliṣṭhaḥ'' 'the strongest').{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=71–72}} Alternatively, [[Peter Schrijver]] has conjectured a connection with the stem for '[[henbane]]', *''beles''-, attached to an unknown suffix -''ma'', by comparing the name with the Gaulish theonym ''Belisa-maros''. According to him, this is "formally attractive and semantically possible (if *''Belesama'' = Lat. ''Minerva medica'') but not supported by direct evidence".{{sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=|pp=30–31}}

The toponyms [[Beleymas]], [[Bellême]], [[Balesmes-sur-Marne|Balesmes]], [[Blesmes]], [[Blismes]], and [[Velesmes-Essarts|Velesmes]] are based on the theonym.{{sfn|Schrijver|1999|p=29}}{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=71–72}} The name also appears in various river names of Gauls and Britain, including ''Belisama'' ([[River Ribble]]) and ''Le Blima'' ([[Tarn (department)|Tarn]]).{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=71–72}}<ref name="MacKillop">{{Harvnb|MacKillop|2004}}, s.v. ''Belisama''.</ref> The [[Galatian language|Galatian]] personal name ''Blesamius'', from an earlier *''Belesamios'', may also be added to the comparison.{{Sfn|Delamarre|2003|pp=71–72}}