Ads
related to: america origin of name
Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The earliest known use of the name America dates to April 25, 1507, when it was applied to what is now known as South America. [1] It is generally accepted that the name derives from Amerigo Vespucci , the Italian explorer, who explored the new continents in the following years on behalf of Spain and Portugal , with the name given by German ...
The full name "United States of America" was first used during the American Revolutionary War, though its precise origin is a matter of contention. [1] The newly formed union was first known as the "United Colonies", and the earliest known usage of the modern full name dates from a January 2, 1776 letter written between two military officers.
The Latin name Caesarea was also applied to the colony of New Jersey as Nova Caesarea, because the Roman name of the island was thought to have been Caesarea. [70] [71] The name "Jersey" most likely comes from the Norse name Geirrsey, meaning 'Geirr's Island'. [72] New Mexico: November 1, 1859: Nahuatl via Spanish: Mēxihco via Nuevo México
The meaning of the word American in the English language varies according to the historical, geographical, and political context in which it is used.American is derived from America, a term originally denoting all of the Americas (also called the Western Hemisphere), ultimately derived from the name of the Florentine explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci (1451–1512).
Many names of French origin entered usage at this time as well. Historically French names such as Monique, Chantal, André, and Antoine became common within African-American culture. Names of African origin began to crop up as well. Names like Ashanti, Tanisha, Aaliyah, and Malaika have origins in the continent of Africa. [2] [page needed]
The name Africa was originally used by the ancient Romans to refer to the northern part of the continent that corresponds to modern-day Tunisia. There are many theories regarding its origin. Africa terra means "land of the Afri" (plural, or "Afer" singular), referring to the Afri tribe, who dwelt in Northern Africa around the area of Carthage.
The name "America" was first recorded in 1507. A two-dimensional globe created by Martin Waldseemüller was the earliest recorded use of the term. [14] The name was also used (together with the related term Amerigen) in the Cosmographiae Introductio, apparently written by Matthias Ringmann, in reference to South America. [15]
By the time of the Revolution, the name Columbia had lost the comic overtone of its Lilliputian origins and had become established as an alternative, or poetic, name for America. While the name America is necessarily scanned with four syllables, according to 18th-century rules of English versification Columbia was normally scanned with three ...