Etymograph

English

Gibraltar

Gibraltar comes from Spanish Gibraltar, and goes back to Arabic جَبَل طَارِق ‘Mount Tariq’.

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentجَبَل طَارِقjabal ṭāriq‘Mount Tariq’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentGibraltar
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013same form

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Lineage

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentجَبَل طَارِقjabal ṭāriq‘Mount Tariq’
  2. Spanishc. 1500–presentGibraltar
  3. Englishearliest quotation 2013same form

Earliest quotation: 2013, Simon Jenkins, Gibraltar and the Falklands deny the logic of history: “Nothing beats a gunboat. HMS Illustrious glided out of…”

The story

From Spanish Gibraltar, from Arabic جَبَل طَارِق (jabal ṭāriq, “Mount Tariq”), named after Tariq ibn Ziyad, who led the Umayyad conquest of Hispania, starting in 711. Replaced earlier Latin Mons Calpe (‘Mount Calpe’) for the land, and Columnae Herculis, from Ancient Greek Ἡράκλειαι στῆλαι (Hērákleiai stêlai, “Pillars of Hercules”), for the strait. The barangay in Baguio, Philippines is named by a German national "Jonathan Speth" after the Rock of Gibraltar in Europe. He lived and died in the barangay.

Every English word from Arabic جَبَل طَارِق

Today it means

name A peninsula, city, and overseas territory of the United Kingdom, at the southern end of Iberia.

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Arabic جَبَل طَارِق / Gibraltar

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