Madagascar

Submitted names are contributed by users of this website. The accuracy of these name definitions cannot be guaranteed.

Submitted Name (2)

Type Country & Island
Usage English, Catalan, Nahuatl, French, Italian, Manx, Portuguese (Brazilian), Spanish, Corsican
Pronounced Pron. madəgaskə(English, Manx)
 madəgaskahr(English)
 madə-GASKə(English)
 mədəgəska(Catalan)
 machakaska(Nahuatl)
 madagaskar(French, Italian, Spanish, Corsican)
 madagaskur(Brazilian Portuguese)
 madhaghaskar(Spanish)
  [key·IPA]
Edit Status Statusnot set    [show contributor]

Meaning & History

From Middle French Madagascar, from Madageiscar, as a corrupted transliteration of Mogadishu by Marco Polo's misreading of Arabic.

The actual misconstrued term was Arabic جَزِيرَة المَالَائِيّ‎ (jazīrat al-mālāʾiyy) meaning "the island of mālāī" listed alongside Arabic جَزِيرَة القَمَر‎ (#jazīrat al-qamar" meaning "island of the moon" which lent its named to Comoros. Madagascar, however likely being the original later based on the dimensions.

See Also

User submission Madagáscar