named 1890 when it was an Italian colony, ultimately from Mare Erythreum, Roman name of the Red Sea, from Greek Erythre Thalassa, literally "Red Sea" (which to the Greeks also included the Gulf of Arabia and the Indian Ocean), from erythros "red" (from PIE root *reudh- "red, ruddy").
chief city of Tuscany, also a fem. proper name, both from Latin Florentia, fem. of Florentius, literally "blooming," from florens (genitive florentis), present participle of florere "to flower" (see flourish). The city name is from Roman Colonia Florentia, "flowering colony," either literal or figurative, and became Old Italian Fiorenze, modern Italian Firenze.
both the Libyan capital and the Lebanese port city represent Greek tri- "three" (see tri-) + polis "city" (see polis). In Libya, Tripolis was the name of a Phoenician colony consisting of Oea (which grew into modern Tripoli), Leptis Magna, and Sabratha. Arabic distinguishes them as Tarabulus ash-sham ("Syrian Tripoli") and Tarabulus al-garb ("Western Tripoli").
"native or inhabitant of the Dominican Republic," 1853, from the name of the republic, which became independent from Haiti in 1844; formerly it was Santo Domingo, the name of the capital and of the European colony established there in 1494, which was named for Santo Domingo de Guzmán, founder of the Order of the Dominicans, who established a presence there (see Dominican (1)).
old name of a region and French colony in southern Vietnam, from French Cochin-China, from Portuguese corruption of Ko-chen, which is of uncertain meaning. Properly a name of a division of the old kingdom of Annam, it was taken as the general name of the region. The China was added to distinguish it from the town and port of Cochin in southwest India, the name of which is Tamil, perhaps from koncham "little," in reference to the river there. Related: Cochin-Chinese.
U.S. state, formerly a Spanish colony, probably from Spanish Pascua florida, literally "flowering Easter," a Spanish name for Palm Sunday, and so named because the peninsula was discovered on that day (March 20, 1513) by the expedition of Spanish explorer Ponce de León. From Latin floridus "flowery, in bloom" (see florid). Related: Floridian (1580s as a noun, in reference to the natives; 1819 as an adjective).
city in Maryland, U.S., founded 1729, named for Cecilius Calvert (1605-1675), 2nd baron Baltimore, who held the charter for Maryland colony; the name is from a small port town in southern Ireland where the family had its seat, from Irish Baile na Tighe Mor, literally "townland of the big house." In old baseball slang, a Baltimore chop was a hit right in front of the plate that bounced high.
ancient Greek colony in Libya; the name is of unknown origin. Cyrenaic (1640s) typically refers to the philosophy ("practical hedonism") of Aristippus of Cyrene (c. 435-c. 356 B.C.E.); as a noun, "a Cyrenaic philosopher," from 1580s.
According to Aristippus, pleasure is the only rational aim, and the relative values of different pleasures are to be determined by their relative intensities and durations. He maintained also that cognition is limited to sensation. [Century Dictionary]
the U.S. state was named 1732 as a colony for King George II of Great Britain. The Caucasian nation is so-called for St. George, who is its patron saint (his cult there may continue that of a pre-Christian deity with whom he later was identified), but the name in that place also is said to derive from Arabic or Persian Kurj, or Gurz (the form in the earliest sources, Russian Grusia), which is said to be a name of the native people, of unknown origin. In modern Georgia, the name of the country is Sakartvelo and the people's name is Kartveli. Georgia pine, long-leafed pine of the Southern U.S. states, is from 1796.
"native or inhabitant of the French colony of Acadia" in what is now the Canadian Maritimes, 1705, from Acadia, Latinized form of Acadie, French name of Nova Scotia, probably from Archadia, the name given to the region by Verrazano in 1520s, from Greek Arkadia, then emblematic in pastoral poetry of a place of rural peace (see Arcadian); the name may have been suggested to Europeans by the native Micmac (Algonquian) word akadie "fertile land." The Acadians, expelled by the English in 1755, settled in large numbers in Louisiana, and were known there as Acadians by 1803 (see Cajun, which is a corruption of Acadian).
