1765, from Late Latin Scandinavia, Skandinovia, a mistake for Scadinavia, from a Germanic source (compare Old English Scedenig, Old Norse Skaney "south end of Sweden"), from Proto-Germanic *skadinaujo "Scadia island," first element of uncertain origin, second element from *aujo "thing on the water," from PIE root *akwā- "water" (see aqua-). It might truly have been an island when the word was formed; the coastlines of the Baltic Sea has changed dramatically since the end of the Ice Ages.
