Велес

The current city's name dates to the 7th century with the arrival of the Slavs. It is thought to derive from the phrase в (v) лес (les, “in the forest”) referencing the dense woods that once surrounded the area. However, some Slavists derive the name directly from the god Veles, protector of herds and commerce, reflecting the region's pastoral landscape of grassy hills and its proximity to the Vardar River.^[1]

• IPA^(key): [ˈvɛlɛs]

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Велес • (Veles) m (relational adjective велешки)

1. Veles (a city in North Macedonia)

• велешанец m (velešanec), велешанка f (velešanka)

Велес • (Veles) m

1. (Slavic mythology) Veles (god of the fertile earth, livestock, waters, and the underworld)

• Волос m (Volos)

• Свети Василиј m (Sveti Vasilij)

Inherited from Old East Slavic Велесъ (Velesŭ). Likely cognate with вели́кий (velíkij) (compare бе́лый (bélyj) → беле́сый (belésyj)), thus ultimately deriving from Proto-Slavic *velь (“great”).

• IPA^(key): [ˈvʲelʲɪs]
• IPA^(key): [vʲɪˈlʲes]

Ве́лес or Веле́с • (Véles or Velés) m anim (genitive Ве́леса or Веле́са, nominative plural Ве́лесы or Веле́сы, genitive plural Ве́лесов or Веле́сов)

1. (Slavic mythology) Veles (god of earth, livestock, and the underworld)

• Vasmer, Max (1964–1973) “Велес”, in Oleg Trubachyov, transl., Этимологический словарь русского языка [Etymological Dictionary of the Russian Language] (in Russian), Moscow: Progress