Where does “Louvain” come from?
Louvain comes from French Louvain, which derives from Medieval Latin Luvanium, a place name of uncertain ultimate origin.
Ancestry of “Louvain”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | French | Louvain | — |
| 2 | Medieval Latin | Luvanium | — |
| 3 | Frankish | *Loven | — |
| 4 | Old Norse | hvein | swampy land; gorse, furze; swamp, marsh |
| 5 | Proto-Germanic | hwainō | — |
| 6 | Proto-Indo-European | ḱweyn- | to make dirty, soil; filth; mud; to soil; mud;... |