Aetomilitsa (, before 1927: ÃÂÃÂýÃÂÃÂùúÿý, Dentsikon, between 1927 and 1928: ÃÂñûñÃÂñÃÂùì, Galataria; ) is a village in the Ioannina regional unit, Epirus, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Konitsa, of which it is a municipal unit. Before 2011, it was an independent community. The 2021 census recorded 200 residents in the village. The community of Aetomilitsa covers an area of .
Linguist Max Vasmer writes the toponym is Slavic and linked to the form Vodensko, found in several other Slavic placenames in the Balkans. Linguist Kostas Oikonomou derives the toponym from the Slavic dÃÂdina indicating 'the grandfather's inheritance', inheritance', 'the estate from inheritance', 'estate', 'village'.
The first part of the placename is formed from the Slavic word dÃÂdàmeaning 'grandfather' and the suffix -ina. The adjectival suffix ÃÂskà(feminine ÃÂska) with the omission of the definite noun dÃÂdinÃÂskàfrom the toponym was formed by the sound cluster sk becoming ck, thus dÃÂdinÃÂsko; rendering of Slavic àwith e in Greek and elimination of the unstressed i and ÃÂ, hence dedncko and the elimination of d through dissimilation probably in Greek of d-d into d-ø.
The village lies on the Gramos mountain. It is one of the highest communities in Greece situated at an altitude of . A glacial lake, Moutsalia Lake () is situated 5 km as the crow flies or 13 km drive on a dirt road from Aetomilitsa.
Aetomilitsa has a warm-summer humid continental climate (Köppen climate classification: Dfb) using the 0 ðC (32 ðF) isotherm, or a temperate oceanic climate (Köppen climate classification: Cfb) using the âÂÂ3 ðC (27 ðF) isotherm for the coldest month. Aetomilitsa experiences cold winters with high precipitation and warm, drier summers.
For a time during the Greek Civil War (1946-1949), Aetomilitsa was the seat of the communist rebels, the so-called "Provisional Democratic Government".
Aetomilitsa has an Aromanian population and is an Aromanian speaking village. In the early 21st century, elderly people were bilingual in the community language and Greek, whereas younger residents under 40 might have understood the community language but did not use it.