They are mentioned as
Ouénnōnes (Οὐέννωνες) by
Strabo (early 1st c. AD), as
Vennonenses (var. -''
) by Pliny (1st c. AD), and as Ouénnōnetes'' (Οὐέννωνετες) by
Ptolemy (2nd c. AD). The etymology of the name remains obscure. If Celtic, and not
Rhaetic, it can be derived from the root ''''- ('friend'), with a sound shift -
n- > -
nn- attested in other cases (e.g.
Vena /
Venna), or else from to '
- (< *'-), meaning 'chariot'. == Geography ==