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Kali a name of Devi, the Hindu mother-goddess, in her black-skinned death-aspect, 1798, from Sanskrit kali, literally "the black one," fem. of kalah "blue-black, black," a word from a Dravidian language. Also taken as the fem. of kala "time" (as destroyer).
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Azerbaijan country name, of unknown origin, perhaps from Old Persian Aturpatakan, from Greek Atropatene, from the Persian satrap Atropates, who ruled there in the time of Alexander the Great; or from local azer "fire" + baydjan (Iranian baykan) "guardian," in reference to fire-worship. Related: Azerbaijani.
Related entries & more Susquehanna river through Pennsylvania, named for a native people who lived along the southern reaches of it at the time of European contact, "An Algonquian name for an Iroquoian people; it has been translated as 'people at the falls' or 'roily water people'" [Bright].
Related entries & more Lorelei 1843, from German, name of a rock in the River Rhine near Koblenz, Germany. In legend, a lovely woman sat atop it and sang while combing her long blond hair, distracting sailors so their ships foundered on the rock and they drowned. The second element of the name probably is Rhenish dialect lei "cliff, rock;" the first element is perhaps from Middle High German lüren "to lie in wait"
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Tironian
Related entries & more of or pertaining to Marcus Tullius Tiro, Cicero's scribe and namesake, 1828, especially in reference to the Tironian Notes (Latin notæ Tironianæ), a system of shorthand said to have been invented by him (see ampersand).
Although involving long training and considerable strain on the memory, this system seems to have practically answered all the purposes of modern stenography. It was still in familiar use as late as the ninth century. [Century Dictionary]
Bahamas islands discovered by Columbus in 1492, settled by English in 1648, long after the native population had been wiped out by disease or carried off into slavery; the name is said to be from Spanish baja mar "low sea," in reference to the shallow water here, but more likely represents a local name, Guanahani, whose origin had been lost and whose meaning has been forgotten.
Related entries & more Ionic (adj.)"pertaining to Ionia or the Ionians," 1570s of music; 1580s of architecture, from Latin Ionicus, from Greek Ionikos (see Ionian). In prosody, a foot of two long syllables followed by two short. The Ionic school of philosophers (Thales, Anaxamander, etc.) studied the material world in ways that somewhat anticipated observational science. It also once was the name of an important school of Greek painting, but all of it save the name is lost. Related: Ionicize (1841).
Related entries & more Amazon (n.)late 14c., via Old French (13c.) or Latin, from Greek Amazon (mostly in plural Amazones) "one of a race of female warriors in Scythia," probably from an unknown non-Indo-European word, or possibly from an Iranian compound *ha-maz-an- "(one) fighting together" [Watkins], but in folk etymology long derived from a- "without" + mazos, variant of mastos "breast;" hence the story that the Amazons cut or burned off one breast so they could draw bowstrings more efficiently. Also used generally in early Modern English of female warriors; strong, tall, or masculine women; and the queen in chess.
The river in South America (originally called by the Spanish Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce) rechristened by Francisco de Orellana, 1541, after an encounter with female warriors of the Tapuyas (or, as some say, beardless, long-haired male tribesmen). Others hold that the river name is a corruption of a native word in Tupi or Guarani meaning "wave").
Related entries & more The river in South America (originally called by the Spanish Rio Santa Maria de la Mar Dulce) rechristened by Francisco de Orellana, 1541, after an encounter with female warriors of the Tapuyas (or, as some say, beardless, long-haired male tribesmen). Others hold that the river name is a corruption of a native word in Tupi or Guarani meaning "wave").
