Ἀζανία
Ancient Greek
[edit]Etymology 1
[edit]Possibly from Ζάν (Zán, “Zeus”) — Doric + -ία (-ía).
Proper noun
[edit]Ἀζανία • (Azanía) f (indeclinable)
- (historical) a subregion of Arcadia.
Etymology 2
[edit]Two possibilities: 1. Related to Somali san (“nose”), referring to the Horn of Africa; (Cushitic languages like Somali have been spoken there for many thousands of years). 2. Related to Arabic عَجَمِيّ (ʕajamiyy, “foreign, barbarian”). The Greeks likely remoulded whichever word to a familiar form (Etymology 1). Probably not related to Ζήγγισα.
Proper noun
[edit]Ἀζανία • (Azanía) f (indeclinable)
- (historical) The region of East Africa as known by the Ancient Greeks and Romans.
References
[edit]"AZANIA, SOME ETYMOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS", John Hilton, Acta Classica, vol.35
Categories:
- Ancient Greek lemmas
- Ancient Greek proper nouns
- Ancient Greek paroxytone terms
- Ancient Greek feminine proper nouns
- Ancient Greek indeclinable proper nouns
- Ancient Greek feminine indeclinable proper nouns
- Ancient Greek feminine nouns
- Ancient Greek terms with historical senses
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Somali
- Ancient Greek terms derived from Arabic