capital of the Bahamas, a name attested from 1690s, given in honor of King William III of England (1650-1702), of the House of Orange-Nassau, from the duchy of Nassau in western Germany, named for a village in the Lahn valley, from Old High German nass "wet." Related: Nassauvian.
U.S. capital, founded 1791, named for President George Washington (1732-1799); the family name is from a town in northeastern England, from Old English, literally "estate of a man named Wassa." The U.S. state was named when it was formed as a territory in 1853 (admitted to the union 1889). Related: Washingtonian.
ancient Greek settlement in Thrace on the European side of the Bosphorus, said to be named for its 7c. B.C.E. founder, Byzas of Megara. A place of little consequence until 330 C.E., when Constantine the Great re-founded it and made it his capital (see Constantinople).
popular pleasure garden on south bank of Thames in London, c. 1661-1859; the name is Middle English Faukeshale (late 13c.), "Hall or manor of a man called Falkes," an Old French personal name.
1663, North American colony named for King Charles II (the Latin form of the male proper name is Carolus). Earlier French colonists had called the region Caroline (1564) in honor of Charles IX, King of France, and a 1629 grant here by Charles I of England was named Carolana.
The name at first referred to modern South Carolina, but the tract originally included North Carolina and Georgia; North Carolina first was used 1691, in reference to settlements made from Virginia. The official division into north and south dates from 1710. It has been used generically in forming species names in botany and zoology from 1734. Related: Carolinian.
"native or inhabitant of ancient Media," the ancient kingdom south of the Caspian Sea, later a part of the Persian empire, late 14c., from Latin Medus, from Greek Medos "Mede," from the indigenous people-name Medes, which is said to be from the name of their first king (Medos).
Modern French form of the masc. proper name represented in Modern English by Peter (q.v.). The city in South Dakota, U.S., was named for Pierre Chouteau (1789-1865) who set up an Indian trading post there in 1837.
Persian Gulf country, named for its capital city (said to have been founded in current form 1705), which is from Arabic al-kuwayt, diminutive of kut, a word used in southern Iraq and eastern Arabia for a fortress-like house surrounded by a settlement and protected by encircling water, and said to be ultimately from Persian. Related: Kuwaiti.
ancient capital of Persia, founded 6c. B.C.E. by Darius the Great; from Greek, literally "city of the Persians," from Perses "Persians" (see Persian) + -polis "city" (see polis). The modern Iranian name for the place is Takht-e-jamshid, literally "throne of Jamshid," a legendary king whose name was substituted when Darius was forgotten. Related: Persepolitan.
South American country, named for the river, which is said to be from Guarani para "water" + guay "born." This is said to have been the name of a local chieftain who treated with the first Spanish explorers. Related: Paraguayan (1690s).
