west | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

Mae West

type of inflatable life jacket, 1940, military slang, in reference to the screen name of the buxom U.S. film star (1892-1980).

Yoruba

west Nigerian people, also the name of their language.

Akan

people and language of West Africa (Ghana and surrounding regions), 1690s, a native name.

Bacardi

1921, name for a brand of West Indian rum produced by Compania Ron Bacardi, originally of Cuba.

Nigeria

West African nation, named for river Niger, which runs through it, + country name ending -ia. Related: Nigerian.

Doctor Martens

type of heavy walking boots, 1977 (use claimed from 1965), trademark name taken out by Herbert Funck and Klaus Martens of West Germany.

Hispaniola

West Indian island, from Spanish la isla española "the Spanish island" (not "little Spain"); the name is said to have been given by Columbus in 1492.

Caribbean (adj.)

"of or pertaining to the Caribs," also "of the sea between the West Indies and the South American mainland," by 1750s, from Carib, indigenous people's name for themselves, + -ean.

Senegal

West African nation, independent from 1960, formerly a French colony, by 1783, named for the river through it, which is named perhaps from a local word meaning "navigable." Related: Senegalese.

Wesleyan (adj.)

"pertaining to Wesley," 1771, in reference to John Wesley (1703-1791), founder of Methodism. The surname is from various places in England named West Leigh (or some variant). Related: Wesleyanism.

Trending words