Panama Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time I cast my net a little wider. As English place names share some links to other tongues it would be interesting to see if any of the elements contributing to our place names could be found elsewhere. Continuing an alphabetical tour of the world and a look at the largest Panama's cities.

Panama City gave its name to the country and, as explained in detail in my post Countries of the Americas, means 'many butterflies' or 'abundance of fish'.

David is named after the biblical King David.

La Chorrera has always been thought to refer to the large number of waterfalls, although the name does not mean waterfall and does not translate at all.

Santiago de Veraguas has a Spanish prefix, meaning Saint James, and the name of the province, itself from an indigenous language where Veracua or Viragua was probably a proper name, although there are many (unproven) theories.

Penonome comes from peno Nome, where Nome was the local chieftain put to death by Spanish conquistadores when he dared to resist their rule. Peno Nome literally means 'Nome was punished'. Legend speaks of his love for a local woman named Zarati. However, the tribe didn't approve of their love and told him she had drowned. He is said to have thrown himself into the same river and perished, thus giving names to the Zarati River and a slightly different meaning for the place name of 'Nome mourned'.

Puerto Armuelles was named to honour Colonel Tomas Armuelles, a hero of the Coto War between Panama and Costa Rica and fought over a period of thirteen days in February and March 1921. Port Armuelles was named shortly after his death in a train accident on 18 March 1921, it had previously been known as Rabo de Puerco or 'pigtail'.

Chitre takes its name from the local tribe, the Chitra.

Almirante is the Spanish word for 'admiral'.

Last Tablas takes its name, according to folklore, from planks of wood salvaged from a Spanish ship which ran aground after fleeing from the pirate Sir Henry Morgan. The only evidence to support this is the literal translation of las tablas as 'the boards'.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.

Fonts

Trying out different fonts recently I admit before long I was bemused by the vast array now available. Their names, too, are rather confusing but clearly will have little etymological value as, in the main they have been created comparatively recently.

Yet I did think it might be a nice idea to find the origins of the words now used for fonts and typefaces. What follows is but a selection. Antique - is first used in English around the start of the 16th century and first seen as an adjective. It comes to us through a Latin line and ultimately comes from two Proto-Indo-European words anti 'before' and okw 'appearance'.

Baskerville - one of the few named as a typeface, this created around 1750 and named for British type-founder and printer John Baskerville (1706-75). He was not the inspiration for the famous story by Arthur Conan Doyle.

Bembo - named and first used in 1930 and based on a 15th century typeface by Aldus Manutius when printing a work penned by the Venetian scholar, poet, cardinal and member of the Knights Hospitallier, Pietro Bembo (1470-1547).

Bauhaus - a German word meaning literally 'architecture house' and a reference to the school of design founded in Weimar by Walter Gropius in 1919.

Bodoni - based on and named after Italian printer Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813), the modern version is a composite of his many forms.

Cascade - a word coming to English from Latin cascata 'waterfall' and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European kad 'fall, lay out'. Note the use as a verb began in 1702 and used to refer to 'vomit'.

Clarendon - named after the Clarendon press at Oxford University, set up 1713 in the Clarendon Building and named for the Chancellor Edward Hyde, 1st Earl of Clarendon.

Doric - an architectural style and an adjective derived from Dorian, itself the Greek meaning 'of Doris' a district in central Greece and itself named for Doros the legendary ancestor of the Dorians. The name Doros comes from Proto-Indo-European do 'to give'.

Garamond - named in 1780 after French type-founder Claude Garamond (1510-61). His work saw him producing the punches used to make the type.

Goudy - named in 1917 after the typographer Fredeic W. Goudy (1865-1947). This Chicago man, a realtor his entire working life, and by his own admittance a very poor realtor, changed direction at the age of 40 and left his name in a family of typefaces featuring no less than 113 different styles.

Hanseatic - takes the name of the federation of German towns, the Hanseatic League, of the 17th century. It derives it name from the Middle Low German for 'merchants' guild'.

Korinna - is a Greek word meaning 'maiden'.

Melior - is a Latin word meaning 'better' and comes from Proto-Indo-European mel 'strong, great, numerous'.

Quorum - is Latin and means 'of whom'.

Roman - clearly named for the upright style of lettering, but of greater interest is the French word roman which means 'novel'.

Estonia Place Names Explained

Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals I thought it time to cast my net a little wider. This time Estonia and a look at some of its largest settlements and most interesting names and starting with the capital.

Tallinn is a comparatively modern name. While it is generally accepted this is of Estonian origins, the meaning is somewhat uncertain with the most popular explanation being 'the castle of the Danes' from Taani-linna. Alternatively this could prove to be tali-linna 'winter castle' or talu-linna 'farmstead at the castle'. Prior to the arrival of the Danes in 1219, this had been known as Revala, the name of the surrounding area and a variation on the Icelandic Raphael. Up to the 13th century the place had been called Lindanisa, this from the mythical Linda, wife of Kalev and mother of Kalevipoeg. She is said to have carried rocks to cover the last resting place of her husband which is today known as Toompea Hill. Earlier still the place was known as Quri and also from the name of Kalev.

Tartu comes from Taara, a god in Estonian mythology often depicted as an aurochs.

Narva is a city and an ancient culture named after the River Narva, itself unclear but possibly from the Vepsian word narva meaning either 'waterfall' or 'stream'.

Kuressa had historically been known as Arensburg, where Middle High German aar 'eagle, raptor' precedes burh or 'fortification'. The present name began as the town surrounding said fortification. Kuressaarelinn referring to the linn or 'town' at Kuressaare, itself the ancient name of Saaremaa island - this leaving no doubts as to its meaning when defined as 'the island land island'.. For a short time in the latter half of the 20th century the place became known as Kingissepp after the Bolshevik Viktor Kingissell.

Haapsalu is simply an Estonian description of the place when first settled - haab salu meaning 'grove of aspen trees'.

Paide is known in German as Wittenstein meaning 'white stone', this also seen in the Latin translation of Albus Lapis. The modern name is first seen in 1564 when Paida came from paas meaning 'limestone'. These all refer to the limestone used to construct Paide Castle.

Kivioli takes its name from its principal industry, the mining of oil shale - the name translates to 'stone oil'.

Polva is undoubtedly derived from the Estonian word polv meaning 'knee', although just how this relates to the place is unknown.

Elva takes its name from the Elva River, itself with the literal meaning 'river'.

Sindi derives its name from Clauss Zindt, mayor of Parnu in 1565 who founded a manor here.

Narva-Joesuu has a name meaning 'mouth of the Narva', the river name meaning 'waterfall' or 'stream' as discussed above.

Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.