Wonderful Word Origins 3

Toponyms from turkey to bikini

I recently heard from an old friend with whom I drove around much of Turkey in 1990. It made me think about the way the name of that country is used for a bird - one reason for the official name of country being changed to Türkiye in 2022.

Türkiye is a self-designation that can be traced to the 2nd century BC as Tu-kin in a Chinese document. It is derived from a Turkic word probably meaning ‘strong’. In the Middle Ages it is found in Greek as Tourkia and Latin as Turchia. In the 16th century, the birds imported to Europe via Turkey (though brought from Madagascar) were given the name ‘turkeys’.

A few other animals are named in English after countries and cities (in general called toponyms or place-names). Guinea-fowl came a century after Turkey, after the bird’s origin in Guinea, West Africa. Chihuahua comes from the Mexican state of that name. Canary comes from Gran Canaria in the Canary Islands (originally so-called because of the wild dogs, canes, that roamed the island). Foodstuffs also reveal toponyms: currant from Corinth, cherry from Cerasus (Turkey), peach from persica (‘Persian’ fruit via Latin, abbreviated pesca – French pêche), tangerine from Tangier in Morocco, damson from Damascus, scallion from Ascalon (Ashkelon in Israel), and sardine from Sardinia. Banana does not, of course, come from a banana republic. It was an African term for the fruit, adopted by Europeans.

The real hoard of toponymous words are those that signify clothes and textiles. Jeans comes from Genoa, denim from Nîmes (de Nîmes), gauze from Gaza, damask from Damascus, calico from Calicut, India, muslin from Mosul, Iraq, satin from Zaytun (the Arabic name for Chinese Quanzhou), suede from Sweden (the name of the country in French).

Meanwhile there’s fez from Fez in Morocco, jersey from Jersey, panama hats from Panama, and duffel coats from Duffel in Belgium. Bikini is named after Bikini Atoll in the Pacific, and was supposedly so-called because the swimsuit was thought to be as explosive as the atom bomb that was tested there. Jocular pseudo-Latinism has since led to the invention of the monokini.

In a few dozen words we enter the world of medieval and early modern trading across the world. Perhaps the best-known toponymous food today is the hamburger, called after the port of Hamburg whence emigrants sailed to the US, allegedly taking with them minced meat patties in buns. The word is attested only as late as 1909; and there are no places called Beefburg or Cheeseburg.