Country Name Origins

A discussion of word histories and origins.
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Slava
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Country Name Origins

Postby Slava » Wed May 25, 2016 6:59 am

Here is a list compiled by the Oxford Dictionaries Online of all the countries in the world today.

http://blog.oxforddictionaries.com/2016 ... e-origins/

I haven't read them all, but I did notice that certain bits could be better. For example, if a country is named after a river, where'd the river get its name?
Life is like playing chess with chessmen who each have thoughts and feelings and motives of their own.

bnjtokyo
Lexiterian
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Joined: Thu Jul 07, 2016 7:16 pm

Re: Country Name Origins

Postby bnjtokyo » Thu Feb 16, 2017 10:44 am

Are these etymologies really from the Oxford English Dictionary?
If so, how the mighty have fallen. Consider Australia:
It is explained as follows:
Imagining the existence of a land located in the Southern hemisphere, the Greeks came up with the name Terra Australis Incognita, meaning ‘Unknown Southern Land’.

Are we to believe the Greeks come up with this phrase for the theoretical land in the south? I can believe the Greeks came up with the idea (Wikipedia credits Aristotle) but I can't believe he called it "Terra Australis Incognita" It doesn't sound like Greek to me.


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