Acts 10:1

Land of Calves

The ethnonym Ἰταλός and toponym Ἰταλία derive from the Greek ἰταλός, ὁ, meaning “calf” (vitulus in Latin), sometimes extended to ταῦρος (“bull”) (Hesych.), from which the Zodiac "Taurus" comes. This reflects both lexical and symbolic associations with cattle in southern Italy. Ancient writers, including Hellanikos (as preserved in Dionysius of Halicarnassus 1.35), note that the name originally referred to a small region in southern Calabria, abundant in calves, and from which the larger region eventually took its name. The Greek Ἰταλία is a direct adaptation of the Oscan Viteliu, “land of calves,” cognate with Latin vitulus. From the ethnonym Ἰταλός, the adjective Ἰταλικός (“Italian”) arises. Thus, the etymology traces a semantic development from calf → land of calves → inhabitant of Italy / Italian. The mythological king Ἰταλός is sometimes cited as the eponym of the region, reflecting the common Greek practice of personifying place-names through legendary figures.

(cf. ἰταλός, Wikipedia Name of Italy)