Etymograph

English

Mogadishu

Mogadishu may come from Arabic مَقَدِيشُو.

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentمَقَدِيشُوuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2007Mogadishu

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed

Earlier history uncertain.

Lineage

  1. Arabicc. 500–presentمَقَدِيشُوuncertain
  2. Englishearliest quotation 2007Mogadishu

Earliest quotation: 2007, en, Somalian government tells Mogadishu residents to flee: “Rotting corpses lay in the open and explosions shook…”

The story

Uncertain; may be a compound term of Somali words "muuq" (appearance) + "disho", present subjunctive form of dil (beat / kill).uncertain The source flags this step as uncertain. Another proposal is that its borrowed from Arabic مَقَدِيشُو (maqadīšū), from Classical Persian مَقْعَد (maq'ad, “seat”) + شَاه (šāh, “shah, king”), literally “seat of the shah”.

Linked words

through Proto-Indo-European *tek- ‘to take by the hand’

toilet, 9 more

through Classical Persian شاه ‘king’

shah

through Arabic شَاه ‘shah, king’

check, chess, cheque

Today it means

name The capital city of Somalia.

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

Etymograph / Arabic مَقَدِيشُو / Mogadishu

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