Editing Geats (section)

==Etymology==
{{further|Gaut|Name of the Goths}}
The etymology of the name ''Geat'' (Old English ''{{lang|ang|Geatas}}'', from a [[Proto-Germanic]] *''Gautaz'', plural *''Gautōz'') is similar<ref name="Hellquist">{{cite book|title= Svensk etymologisk ordbok|last= Hellquist|first= Elof|language= sv|chapter= göt|url= https://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|access-date= 1 March 2014|archive-date= 4 March 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140304115338/http://runeberg.org/svetym/0306.html|url-status= live}}</ref> to that of ''[[Goths]]'' and ''[[Gutes]]'' (*''Gutô'', plural *''Gutaniz''). The names derive from [[Indo-European ablaut|ablaut]] grades of the Proto-Germanic word *''geutaną'', meaning "to pour".<ref name=rb>{{Cite web|url=https://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|title=887–888 (Nordisk familjebok / Uggleupplagan. 10. Gossler – Harris)|date=22 September 1909|website=runeberg.org|access-date=6 March 2011|archive-date=3 March 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175545/http://runeberg.org/nfbj/0480.html|url-status=live}}</ref> They have the literal meaning "they who pour their seed".<ref>''Svenskt ortnamnslexikon'', [[Språk- och folkminnesinstitutet]], Uppsala 2003, pages 103 och 92 (articles "Götaland" and "Gotland").</ref> (For more information see [[Goths#Etymology|Goths § Etymology]].) The names could also allude to watercourses in the land where they were living,<ref>An interpretation of both names of [[Götaland]] and [[Gotland]] according to the etymology sentences in their respective articles in [[Nationalencyklopedin]].</ref> but this is not generally accepted to be the case, partly because that would mean that the names' similarity would be coincidental.<ref name="Hellquist" />

A more specific theory about the word ''Gautigoths'' is that it means the Goths who live near the river ''Gaut'',<ref name=rb/> today's [[Göta älv]] ({{langx|non|Gautelfr}}).<ref>[http://www.ne.se/klar%C3%A4lven ''Nationalencyklopedin'', the article (in Swedish)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140502144832/http://www.ne.se/klar%C3%A4lven |date=2 May 2014 }} about [[Klarälven]], which says that Klarälven was called ''Gautelfr'' in records from the 13th century. See also [http://www.ne.se/g%C3%B6ta-%C3%A4lv ''Nationalencyklopedin'', the article "Göta älv" (in Swedish).] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807092344/http://www.ne.se/g%C3%B6ta-%C3%A4lv |date=7 August 2011 }}</ref> It might also have been a conflation of the word ''Gauti'' with a [[Gloss (annotation)#In linguistics|gloss]] of ''Goths''.<ref>[http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/92/76.html Götar] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926211936/http://g3.spraakdata.gu.se/saob/show.phtml?filenr=1/92/76.html |date=26 September 2011 }} in [[Svenska Akademiens Ordbok]].</ref> In the 17th century the name ''Göta älv'', 'River of the Geats', replaced the earlier names ''Götälven'' and ''Gautelfr''.<ref name=rb/> The etymology of the word ''Gaut'' (as mentioned above) derives from the Proto-Germanic word *''geutan'', and the extended meaning of "to pour" is "flow, stream, waterfall", which could refer to [[Trollhättan Falls]] or to the river itself.<ref name=rb/>

The short form of ''Gautigoths'' was the Old Norse ''{{lang|non|Gautar}}'', which originally referred to just the inhabitants of [[Västergötland]], or the western parts of today's [[Götaland]], a meaning which is retained in some Icelandic sagas.<ref name=rb/>