Etymology
The Old English names Hengest and Horsa mean "stallion" and "horse" respectively.
The original Old English word for a horse was eoh. Eoh is derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *ekwo, hence Latin equus which gave rise to the modern English words equine and equestrian. Hors is derived from the Proto-Indo-European base *kurs, which also gave rise to hurry, carry, harry, hurrah and current. Hors eventually replaced eoh, fitting a pattern elsewhere in Germanic languages where the original names of sacred animals are abandoned in favour of adjectives; for example, the word bear. While the Historia ecclesiastica gentis Anglorum and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle refer to the brother as Horsa, in the Historia Brittonum his name is simply Hors. It has been suggested that Horsa may be a hypocorism for a compound name whose first element was hors.
Read more about this topic: Hengist And Horsa
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