Wikipedia

List of words derived from toponyms

This is a list of English language words derived from toponyms, followed by the place name it derives from.

General

  • agate — after Achates, ancient Greek name for the river Dirillo on the Italian island of Sicily
  • Alberta clipper — a weather phenomenon named after the Canadian province of Alberta, where it originates [1]
  • Angora goat, Angora rabbit, Angora wool (obtained from the previous two), Angora cat — named after Angora, variant or former name of Ankara, their place of origin [2][3]
  • Antimacassar — after Makassar, Indonesia, which was the source of hair oil
  • Armageddon — after "mount of Megiddo", where the battle was to be fought according to myth [4]
  • badminton — after Badminton in Gloucestershire, England
  • balkanization — after the Balkans, region in southeastern Europe similarly divided into small nations in the twentieth century [5]
  • bangalored — after Bangalore, India; used often in the US when jobs are lost because of outsourcing; first time use by the magazine The Economist; usage: "He is sulking today because he got bangalored."[6]
  • Bedford cord, a heavy fabric with a ribbed weave similar to corduroy; named after either Bedford, England[1] or possibly New Bedford, Massachusetts[2]
  • Bedlam — meaning pandemonium, after popular name/pronunciation of St Mary of Bethlehem, London's first psychiatric hospital [3][4]
  • Bedlington Terrier, a breed of dog, after Bedlington, UK
  • bezant — former gold coin, and current heraldic charge, after Byzantium (now Istanbul), where the coins were made
  • bikini — two-piece bathing suit for women, after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands, where atomic bombs were tested in 1946; supposedly analogous to the "explosive" effect on the male libido [5][6]
  • the Blarney and Blarney Stone — Blarney Castle
  • Boeotian, an ancient Greek term for a fool, after the Boeotian people
  • bohemian — term referring to artists, writers, and other people who wished to live an unconventional, vagabond, or "gypsy" lifestyle; from Bohemia, where "gypsies" were erroneously thought to originate;[7][8] see also gypsy, below
  • La Brabançonne, national anthem of Belgium — Brabant, province of Belgium
  • Bronx cheer — a noise made by the mouth to signify derision; after The Bronx, a borough of New York City[9]
  • brummagem — goods of shoddy quality; from a local pronunciation of Birmingham, city in the United Kingdom[10]
  • bungalow — a low building or house, from a Gujarati word meaning "Bengalese", used elliptically to mean a house built in the style of Bengal[11]
  • Byzantine, used to describe any work, law, or organization that is excessively complex or difficult to understand, named after Byzantine Empire
  • calico — a type of cloth named after Calicut, where Europeans first obtained it;[12] Calico cat and calico horse derive from the appearance of their mottled coat suggesting calico cloth
  • canary — a small yellow bird, originating on and named after the Canary Islands, specifically the largest island, Gran Canaria, called in Latin Insula Canaria, "island of dogs", after the wild native dogs found there [13]
  • Capri pants — mid-calf pants named for the Italian isle of Capri, where they rose to popularity in the late 1950s and early '60s.[14]
  • Caucasian — name for the "white race", coined by anthropologist Johann Blumenbach after Caucasus Mountains, their supposed ancestral homeland [15]
  • chautauqua — a form of local fair, after Chautauqua, New York, where the first one was held [16]
  • Chicago Typewriter, a nickname for the Thompson submachine gun
  • chihuahua — small dog from Chihuahua, state of Mexico
  • china — originally chinaware, as in "wares from China"[17]
  • Chinese wall, artificial organizational barrier, derived from Great Wall of China
  • coach — a type of carriage, ultimately from Hungarian kocsi (szekér) or "carriage of Kocs", where this vehicle was first made [18]
  • Coldstream Guards — regiment founded at Coldstream in Scotland
  • cologne — a perfume originating from Cologne, Germany.[7]
  • Corinthian order — one of the three orders of classical architecture, after Corinth in Greece
  • Coventry (in the construction "Send to Coventry"): shunned by friends and family, after the treatment of Royalist prisoners during the English Civil War
  • Damask — material, from Damascus
  • denim — a coarse cotton fabric, from French serge de Nîmes, or "serge of Nîmes", where the cloth originated [19]
  • derby — a stakes race limited to three-year-old steeds, named after Derby in England by way of its 12th Earl; also refers to a style of shoe and hat.
  • dollar — a unit of currency, originally from the German taler, an abbreviation of Joachimstaler ("gulden of Joachimstal"), a coin minted (1519) from silver mined near Joachimsthal, Bohemia[20]
  • donnybrook — colloquial term for a brawl or fracas, derived from Donnybrook Fair, an annual horse fair in the Dublin suburb notorious for fighting and drunkenness [21]
  • doolally or dolally — an adjective meaning "mad" or "eccentric" (e.g. "to go dolally"), ultimately named after Deolali, a hill station near Nashik in colonial India, referring to the apparent madness of men waiting to return to Britain after their tour of duty [22]
  • duffel or duffle — heavy woollen cloth, hence duffel coat and duffel bag; after Duffel, a town in Belgium where it was first made [23]
  • Dunkirk spirit, after the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II
  • Fez, (also called tarboosh), a hat — Fez, a city in Morocco
  • Finlandization, the influence a large country can have on a smaller one, after Finland
  • gamboge, a yellow artist's pigment — Cambodge, French name for Cambodia
  • geyser, a hot water spring — Geysir in Iceland
  • Glasgow kiss, a slang term meaning headbutt — Glasgow, Scotland
  • Greek, not understandable ("all Greek to me") — Greek language of Greece
  • Guinea, former British gold coin, and guineafowl — Guinea region of West Africa
  • Gypsies, nomadic peoples in Europe and United States — Egypt
  • Habanera — a musical style named after Havana, Cuba
  • Hackney carriage, name for the London taxicab, probably from Hackney in London, England
  • Havana, cigar — from capital of Cuba
  • Hempenstall, a surname, after the town of Heptonstall (England)
  • Honiton, a form of lace, after the town in Devon (England) where it is produced
  • Holland, cotton or linen fabric — Holland
  • iliad — a long narrative poem, or a series of woes, trials, etc.; both derive from the Homeric epic Iliad, literally meaning "of Ilium" (or Troy)[24]
  • Indian, the aboriginal peoples of the New World, after India
  • Indigo, colour, after India
  • Ionic order — one of the three orders of classical architecture, after Ionia in present-day Turkey
  • japanning, application of lacquer, after Japan
  • Jeans, denim trousers; Genoa
  • Jersey cattle (also tomato, milk, cream, jumper) — Jersey, one of the Channel Islands
  • Kimblewick bit, used on horses for riding — Kimble Wick, hamlet in Buckinghamshire (England)
  • Labyrinth, maze, after a legendary structure on Crete
  • Laconic, (of a person, speech, or style of writing) using very few words. From Laconia Ancient Sparta (Greece)
  • Left Bank, style of life, fashion, or "look" — "Left Bank", left bank of the Seine (facing downstream) in Paris
  • Leghorn chicken — after Leghorn, historical name for Livorno, Italy
  • Lesbian, female homosexual — Lesbos, island in Greece
  • Lipizzaner, a breed of horse — Lipica, town in Slovenia
  • Magenta, colour — named after Magenta, Lombardy
  • Marathon, long race — Marathon, Greece, town
  • Madras, lightweight cotton fabric — Madras, old name for Chennai, coastal city in southeastern India
  • Manila envelopes, Manila fiber — Manila, city in Philippines
  • Marseillaise, national anthem of France — Marseille, city in France
  • Masada, a mass suicide when conditions are hopeless, after Masada, Israel
  • Mausoleum, a large and impressive tomb — Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Turkey
  • meander, a bend in a river — Meander, a river in Turkey
  • Mecca, ultimate destination or activity center — Mecca, holy city in Saudi Arabia
  • Mongoloid race — Mongolia, country in central Asia
  • Morocco leather — Morocco, country in north Africa
  • Muslin, a lightweight fabric — Mosul, Iraq
  • Neanderthal man, known by his fossils — Neanderthal, Germany, valley where the fossils were found
  • Nicene Creed, Christian doctrine — Nicaea, old name for İznik in Turkey
  • Olympics, worldwide games — Mount Olympus, tallest mountain in Greece
  • Ottoman (furniture), a type of stool — after the Ottoman Empire
  • Paisley (design), used in shawls — Paisley, Scotland
  • Panama hat — Panama in Central America, where it was first sold
  • Portland cement — named after the Isle of Portland, England
  • Rubicon, the point of no return — Rubicon (or Rubico), a small former river in northern Italy
  • Rhode Island Red — Chicken named after Rhode Island
  • Rugby football — Rugby School, in Rugby, Warwickshire, central England
  • Shanghaied — drugged and forced into service aboard a ship, from Shanghai, China
  • Siamese twins, conjoined twins — Siam, old name for Thailand
  • Siberia, a remote undesirable location — Siberia, in eastern Russia
  • Skid Row, originally Skid Road of Seattle, now the rundown area of a U.S. city
  • Sodomy, forbidden sexual acts — Sodom, Biblical town on the plain of the Dead Sea
  • Solecism, incorrect or ungrammatical usage of language — Soli an ancient city in Cilicia, where a dialect of Greek regarded as substandard was spoken
  • Spa, place having water with health-giving properties — Spa, a town in Belgium, also famous for its motor racing circuit.
  • Suede, a durable fabric — French name for Sweden
  • Surrey, horse-drawn carriage — Surrey, a county in southern England
  • Timbuktu, metaphor for an exotic, distant land — Timbuktu, city on the Niger River in Mali, West Africa
  • Trojan horse, malicious computer virus — Trojan Horse, of Troy, from the Iliad
  • turkey, from Turkey
  • tuxedo, after Tuxedo Park, New York
  • Vaudeville, after the Vau de Vire the setting for the bawdy songs of Olivier Basselin.
  • volcano, from Italian island of Vulcano
  • Xanadu, a symbol of opulence — Xanadu (or Shangdu), summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire

Events and agreements

Industries and professions

  • Bay Street — Canada's financial industry (similar to Wall Street), after Bay Street, the main street of Toronto's financial district
  • Beltway — the pundits, political leaders, and opinion-makers of Washington, D.C., after the highway surrounding the city
  • Broadway — musical theater, after Broadway, a street in New York City
  • The City — London-based financial services, after the City of London
  • Detroit — the American automobile industry
  • Fleet Street — the British press, after the London street that formerly housed many newspapers
  • Hollywood — the American motion picture industry, after the district of Los Angeles, California, where many motion picture companies are headquartered
  • K Street — lobbying industry working with the U.S. Federal government
  • Madison Avenue — advertising industry, after Madison Avenue, a street in New York City where many advertising firms are headquartered
  • Savile Row — tailoring, after the street in London where the most prestigious tailors are located
  • Wall Street — U.S. financial services industry, after Wall Street, street in New York City where many financial services firms are headquartered

Food and drink (other than cheese and wine)

Main article: List of foods and drinks named after places

Note: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan is named after the local Saskatoon berry, rather than vice versa.

Cheese

Main article: List of cheeses

Wine

Corporations

There are some corporations whose name is simply the same as their original location.

Elements

See: Chemical elements named after places

Musical genres

Derivations from literary or mythical places

  • Brobdingnagian, meaning very large in size — Brobdingnag, fictional land in the book Gulliver's Travels
  • Cloud cuckoo land, an unrealistically idealistic state where everything is perfect, from The Birds by Aristophanes
  • Eden, any paradisaical area, named after the religious Garden of Eden
  • El Dorado, any area of great wealth, after the mythical city of gold
  • hell, any horrible place, after the religious Hell
  • Lilliputian, meaning very small in size — Lilliput, fictional island in the book Gulliver's Travels
  • Munchkin, small children, dwarfs, or anything of diminutive stature — from the Munchkin country in The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
  • Never Never Land, a metaphor for eternal childhood, immortality, and escapism, from J. M. Barries's Peter Pan
  • Shangri-La, a mythical utopia, a language usage — Shangri-La, fictional place in the novel Lost Horizon
  • utopia, term for organized society — Utopia, fictional republic from the book of the same name

See also

  • Lists of etymologies
  • List of eponyms, names derived from people's names
  • Demonym
  • Lists of things named after places (chemical elements, chess openings, foods, drinks, mathematical problems, minor planets, other places, etc.)

References

  1. ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2015-02-19. Retrieved 2006-11-10."Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-07-14. Retrieved 2007-10-05.
  2. ^ "Angora – Define Angora at Dictionary.com". reference.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  3. ^ "www.chambersharrap.co.uk". chambersharrap.co.uk. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  4. ^ "Armageddon – Define Armageddon at Dictionary.com". reference.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  5. ^ "Balkanization – Define Balkanization at Dictionary.com". reference.com. Retrieved 14 December 2016.
  6. ^ "bangalored". dictionary.com.
  7. ^ "The history behind eau de cologne". Germany Wanderer. Retrieved January 28, 2019.
This article is copied from an article on Wikipedia® - the free encyclopedia created and edited by its online user community. The text was not checked or edited by anyone on our staff. Although the vast majority of Wikipedia® encyclopedia articles provide accurate and timely information, please do not assume the accuracy of any particular article. This article is distributed under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.

Copyright © 2003-2025 Farlex, Inc Disclaimer
All content on this website, including dictionary, thesaurus, literature, geography, and other reference data is for informational purposes only. This information should not be considered complete, up to date, and is not intended to be used in place of a visit, consultation, or advice of a legal, medical, or any other professional.