| The word “Louma” and its derivatives are found as place-names in Crete, Cyprus, Karpathos and elsewhere. Its original meaning during Byzantine times, “the result of washing”, came to mean a wet, marshy place in Cretan dialect. Similarly, the word “loumateas”, found in Sachlikis, means a place full of “loumata”, i.e. muddy. The word “Rouma”, linguistically analogous and almost identical in meaning, which is also found as a toponym or element thereof, means a river or stream. It is derived etymologically from the word “reuma”, also meaning stream (reuma> rema> roma> rouma). |