Ostrogoth (n.)

c. 1600 (Ostrogothes, plural, is attested from late 14c.), one of the "East Goths," the more easterly of the two great divisions of the Gothic tribe, who conquered Italy late 5c. and established, under Theodric, a kingdom there that lasted from 493 to 555 C.E., from Medieval Latin Ostrogothæ, from Germanic, perhaps literally "eastern Goths" from Proto-Germanic *austra- "east" (from PIE root *aus- (1) "to shine," on the notion of "toward sunrise"), but according to Klein's sources the first element might be literal: "shining" or "splendid." For second element, see Goth, and compare Visigoth. Related: Ostrogothic.