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58 entries found

California 

a sequel to his "Amadis de Gaula," and was said to have been influential among Spanish explorers of the New World. It could have led them to misidentify Baja California as ….reference to the native inhabitants, Californian is attested from 1785 as an adjective, 1789 as a noun. The element Californium (1950) was named in reference to University of California, where it was discovered. …

Patagonia 

by Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo (which also might have yielded California).

Tahoe 

Lake on the Nevada-California border, from Washo /da'aw/ "lake." …

Napa 

California county noted for wines, perhaps from a Southern Patwin (Wiuntun) word meaning "homeland." …

Frisco 

colloquial shortening of San Francisco, California, U.S., attested by 1856.

Baja 

in place names (such as Baja California), Spanish baja, literally "lower," either in elevation or geography.

Esalen 

1966 in reference to an alternative philosophy and human potential movement, from Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California, U.S., from Esselen, name of an extinct Native American people of the California coast, for which Bright gives no etymology.

Shasta 

mountain in California, named for local native tribe, for whose name Bright offers no etymology.

Klamath 

native people of the Oregon-California border region, 1826, from Southern Chinookan /tlamatl/, literally "they of the (Klamath) river," from /-matl/ "river." …

boysenberry (n.)

1935, developed early 1900s by California botanist Rudolf Boysen (1895-1950) and named for him.