What does the name of your country means?

[Bereta_Eder]

Originally posted by paiktis22
The name Graecos was used during the christianic years by the Hellenes for self-identification neglecting the name Hellinas that was considered as non-christianic and was avoided.

That was my reference to the Byzantium years. During that era (a broad enough era I know) the name Hellene was used to signify Greeks who believed in the Dodecatheon as opposed to Greeks who were Greeks who believed in Christianity.
Also later the word Romios was used to signify (what later became known as orthodox) Greek Christians.

[Az]

'Israel' - The country is named after an ancient Kingdom that existed in the area, but was not formed by our direct ancestors. that name came from an ancient tale of a mythical ancestor that wrestled with an angel throughout the night, and the angel could not've beaten him in combat, and so, he was to 'Isra-el', rule with or over ( ) god.

[Giant_Squid]

The attribution of the name “America” to Amerigo Vespucci is fairly recent. In 1838, an antique collector discovered some documents describing the Waldseemuller map in a street market in Paris. The manuscript contained Waldseemuller’s explanation, in Latin, of how he guessed that the word America possibly derived from the Latinised version of Amerigo Vespucci. Waldseemuller’s supposition gained acceptance despite it being improbable at best. Vespucci’s records had been the basis for Waldseemuller’s map of the New World.

As soon as the map was published in 1507 there were protests about Vespucci’s role in the discovery and naming of America. Within Vespucci’s lifetime, Waldseemuller compiled and published another map, in which he dropped the name “America” and gave credit to Columbus for the discovery of the New World. Waldseemuller replaced the word “America” with the anonymous “Terra Incognita” (unknown land).

Yet, even today, Waldseemuller is credited with ascribing the name America to the new continent and Amerigo Vespucci is credited with the origin of the name. Waldseemuller was only recording what others (Cabot, Columbus et al) had discovered and named.

A recent publication introduces a far more credible premise concerning the naming of our nation. “Terra Incognita – the true story of how America got its name”, by Rodney Broome, tells the story of the English merchant, Richard Amerike, who financed John Cabot’s voyage in the “Matthew” to the North American mainland in 1497. Broome outlines how the name America is derived from Amerike’s name and not Amerigo Vespucci.

http://pages.prodigy.net/rodney.broome/terramain.htm

[Az]

Well, even if that is the case, I'd rather say that it is named after Amerigo, since I don't want it to be named after some merchant who just paid for the expedition.

[Alex]

The name Brazil derives from the Portuguese word for the red color of brazilwood ( braza= glowing coal), which the early visitors gathered in our territory. They extracted from brazilwood a red dye that was largely used in clothes at the time.

[South killer]

No, I'm not wrong. At independence it was part of the Republic of Gran Colombia. After it dissolved around 1830, Colombia went through a bunch of name changes including the United States of Colombia before settling down on the present name, Republic of Colombia.

That's right i think there was a time that it was called United States of Colombia and they owned colombia, venezuela part of peru and the panama channel area.
Then (i think) they had a war with USA. Usa won and ''liberated'' Panama and made the channel.

[yago]

We call ourselves:" Schwiitzer"

English speaking people came, heard "Schwiitzer", said, :"ah, Switzer" -> So: Switzerland.

[JCG]

Originally posted by South killer
That's right i think there was a time that it was called United States of Colombia and they owned colombia, venezuela part of peru and the panama channel area.
Then (i think) they had a war with USA. Usa won and ''liberated'' Panama and made the channel.

When the name "United States of Colombia" was in use, Venezuela and Ecuador had long since separated from Colombia ("Gran Colombia" as a name is an anachronism used by historians to distinguish the original republic under Bolivar & co. from the modern day Republic of Colombia, then known as Nueva Granada).

There was no formal war with the USA over Panama, and no part of Peru was ever involved, unless you count unsettled (at the time) amazonian jungle frontiers.

[Giancarlo]

Originally posted by Ramo


No, I'm not wrong. At independence it was part of the Republic of Gran Colombia. After it dissolved around 1830, Colombia went through a bunch of name changes including the United States of Colombia before settling down on the present name, Republic of Colombia.

Okay I guess I was partly right then... I certainly was right about Gran Colombia though.

[Dinner]

Originally posted by Ramo
Colombia was actually called the United States of Colombia in the middle of the 19th century.

I believe the official name of Mexico is "The United Mexican States of America". Imitation is the most sincere form of flattery.

[Dauphin]

Estados Unidos Mexicanos.

[Q Classic]

the western name, korea, is derived from one of the previous dynasties that ruled korea: koryo (before yi, which fell to the japanese). there are multiple spellings of it, including corea and coree.

the south part, well, that means that it's the opposite cardinal direction from north, which is identified (usually) as the uppermost point on a circular compass, the direction that leads to the geographic north pole, and/or the direction that leads to the magnetic south pole.

there are several korean names:
taehan minguk translates into republic of korea. used in formal instances, patriotic things, and the like.
taehan= tae= (some sort of particle) + han= korea == [taehan] korea
min= republic + guk= country == mingukrepublic.country

namhan, which is rarely used (its opposite, bukhan, often is)
nam= south + han=korea == namhan= south.korea

hanguk is commonly used.
han= korea + guk= country == hanguk= korea.country

one of the nicknames for it is "land of the morning calm", as opposed to japan's "land of the rising sun" and china's "middle kingdom".

[jim panse]

Originally posted by Lazer
United States of America:

A bunch of states united in a land named after a guy who didn't actually discover it but thought it'd be cute to name it after himself.

America is called "America" after Amerigo Vespucci but he hasn´t discovered this the New World and he has never seen North America ever.
1507 German geographer Waldseemüller (sorry for that name but this guy was called that way ) edited the 1st map of the New World and gave the new continent the name "America". After Amerigo Vespucci because all that this Mr Waldseemüller knew about the New World he knew from writings of Amerigo Vespucci .......

[jim panse]

Originally posted by War of Art
Germany - land of the plague

After all the deaths from the bubonic plague in the 14th century it was called Germany because there were many germs there.

Indeed.

No - its true.

-Jam

Germany is derieved from the old franco word "tiudisk/diutisk" meaning more or less "people" (there´s a german explanation for this but I dunno how to explain it in English. Sorry, I´m searching for more scientific argumentations till later ...)

[yaroslav]

Spain comes from Hispania, that means "Land of rabbits"....

The people from Carthago called Spain, Opshixia, that means "Land of snakes", but, fortunately, the roman name and not the punic one, survived...