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Meaning & History
Latinized form of Greek Οἰνωτρία (Oinotria), the name applied to southern Italy by Greek colonists when they arrived to the region in around the 8th century BC. It is possibly a derivative of Greek οἶνος (oinos) meaning "wine" (perhaps via the related word οἴνωτρον (oinotron), which referred to a kind of vine stake) and may mean "wine land" or "land of vineyards". The region was inhabited by an ancient tribe called the Oenotri or Oenotrians. According to Greek legend it was founded by a king named Oenotrus and the name was said to mean "land of Oenotrus". Oenotria has been applied poetically to all Italy.