Sigismund (variants:
Sigmund, ) is a German proper name, meaning "protection through victory", from
Old High German sigu "victory" +
munt "hand, protection".
Tacitus Latinises it
Segimundus. There appears to be an older form of the High German word "Sieg" (victory):
sigis, obviously Gothic and an inferred Germanic form, and there is a younger form:
sigi, which is
Old Saxon or
Old High German sigu (both from about 9th century). A 5th century Prince of Burgundy was known both as
Sigismund and
Sigimund (see
Ernst Förstemann,
Altdeutsche Personennamen, 1906; Henning Kaufmann,
Altdeutsche Personennamen, Ergänzungsband,1968).