Etymology
The name seems to be Celtic in origin, coming from the Brittonic *tanets (Welsh tân) meaning "fire", possibly a reference to a beacon on the island. Ptolemy calls it Tolianis, the Romans Tanatus and Bede referred to it as Tanatos insula. The name 'Tenet' was listed in the Domesday Book of 1086, whereas an 18th century classical dictionary lists Tane'tus, a small island of Albion.
It appears as "Insula de Teynet" and "in Insula de Thaneto" in the Plea Rolls of the Common Pleas, dated 1450, where the cleric Hugh Grobham alias Gromefeld alias Bromfeld is plaintiff in a plea of debt against John Cecely, vicar of St Peters-in-Thanet.
St. Isidore of Seville's etymology is, if doubtful, certainly colourful: "Thanet is an island in the Ocean in the Gallic channel (English channel), separated from Britannia by a narrow estuary, with fruitful fields and rich soil. It is name Thanet (tanatos) from the death of serpents. Although the island itself is unacquainted with serpents, if soil from it is carried away and brought to any other nation, it kills snakes there."
Read more about this topic: Isle Of Thanet
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)