fem. proper name, also Guiniver, Guinever, Gwiniver; the name is Welsh, said to be from Gwenhwyvar, said to mean literally "white-cheeked," but "Magic Fairy" also has been proposed.
African nation, named for Mount Kenya, which probably is a shortening of Kikuyu Kirinyaga, from kere nyaga, literally "white mountain" (though just south of the equator, it is snowcapped). Related: Kenyan.
type of soft, salted, white cream-cheese, 1848, from name of a district in department Seine-et-Marne, southeast of Paris, famous for its cheeses. The name is from Gaulish briga "hill, height."
shortened or familiar form of masc. proper name Jeffrey; in early to mid-20c., sometimes used by African-Americans to indicate a Southern rural poor white person, probably from Jeff Davis, president of the Confederate States of America.
department of western France, French Vendée, named for the river through it, which is perhaps from Gaulish vindos "white." Especially in reference to the insurrection there against the Republic in 1793. Related: Vendean.
kind of white wine, 1806, named for the seaport town on the west coast of Sicily, in the region where it is produced, the name of which is said to be from Arabic Mirsa-llahi, literally "the Port of God."
"calcium light, torch that burns calcium oxide (lime) and gives off intense white light," 1854, named for Scottish engineer Capt. Thomas Drummond, R.E., (1797-1840), who invented it c. 1825.
city in New Mexico, founded 1706 and named for Spanish administrator and viceroy of Mexico Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, Duque de Alburquerque (1617-1676); the name subsequently was altered by association with Portuguese hero Alfonso d'Albuquerque (1453-1515), the "Portuguese Mars," famed as a great conqueror and champion of Christianity. Both men took their names from Alburquerque, a town in Spain near the Portuguese border, the name of which means "white oak;" it is said to be ultimately from Latin albus "white" (see alb) and quercus "oak" (see Quercus).
name of a nation in western Asia, from Semitic root l-b-n "white," probably in reference to snow-capped peaks, or possibly to chalk or limestone cliffs. The Greek name of the island Lemnos is of Phoenician origin and from the same root.
