Venetia(Region & Settlement)Ancient Roman, Late Roman, Greek From the name of the Veneti people who inhabited northeastern Italy in ancient times. Their tribal name possibly meant something like "kinfolk" or "friendly". This was the Latin name for the region now called Veneto, and later the Latin name for the city of Venice (which did not exist in the classical period).
Veneto(Political Subdivision)Italian, English The name of a region in northeastern Italy, called Venetia in Latin, named after the Veneti people who lived there in ancient times.
Venice(Settlement)English From Italian Venezia, derived from Latin Venetia. This is the name of a city of northeastern Italy, the capital of the Veneto region, famous for its canals.
Vienna(Settlement)English, Italian Meaning uncertain. It could be from Celtic vedunia meaning "forest stream", or possibly from the name of an earlier Roman settlement Vindobona. This is the name of the capital of Austria.
Wales(Country)English, German, Dutch From Old English Wealas, derived from wealh meaning "foreigner, Celt". This is the name of a country (part of the United Kingdom) in the west of the island of Great Britain. In Welsh it is called Cymru.
Wallachia(Region)Romanian From Slavic volxŭ meaning "foreigner, Roman", from the Germanic word walhaz. This was the name of a historic principality that was located in southern Romania. It united with Moldavia in 1859 to create the Kingdom of Romania.
Warsaw(Settlement)English From Polish Warszawa, derived from the given name Warsz, a short form of Warcisław. This is the name of the capital city of Poland.
Washington(Settlement & Political Subdivision)English, German, Dutch, French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese Means "settlement belonging to Wassa's people", from the given name Wassa and Old English tun meaning "enclosure, yard, town". This is the name of a town in northern England. It is also the name of the capital city and a state in the United States, both named after the president George Washington (1732-1799), whose surname was derived from the name of the English town.
Xanadu(Settlement)English Anglicized form of Chinese 上都 (Shangdu), derived from 上 (shàng) meaning "above, upper" and 都 (dū) meaning "city". This was the summer capital of the 13th-century Mongol ruler Kublai Khan, located in Inner Mongolia, China. It became known to English speakers after it appeared in Samuel Taylor Coleridge's poem Kubla Khan (1816), and it has been used figuratively to refer to a paradise since then.
York(Settlement & Political Subdivision)English From Jórvík, the Norse form of Old English Eoforwic, which was from the Brythonic name Eburacon meaning "yew". The Old English form Eoforwic was altered based on eofor "boar" and wic "village".... [more]
Zaire(River & Country)Portuguese, English Older name of the Congo River, said to be derived via Portuguese from Kikongo nzadi o nzere meaning "river swallowing rivers". This was also the former name of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Zambezi(River)Chewa, Bemba, Tonga, Shona, English The name of a river in the south of Africa, of uncertain meaning. It could possibly be from the name of the Bisa people of Zambia. According to the explorer David Livingstone it meant "great river".
Zanzibar(Island)Swahili, English From Arabic زنجبار (Zanjibār), from Persian زنگبار (Zangibār), derived from زنگی (zangī) meaning "black, dark-skinned" and بار (bār) meaning "shore, coast". This is the name of an island, part of Tanzania.
Zealand(Country)English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish From Dutch Zeeland, from Middle Dutch Seelant, derived from see "sea" and lant "land". This is the name of a province in the western Netherlands (now typically called Zeeland in many languages). It is also borne by the country of New Zealand in the South Pacific, which was named by the Dutch in the 17th century.
Zeeland(Political Subdivision & Country)Dutch, English, Danish, Norwegian, Swedish Dutch form of Zealand. Several other languages, including English, use this spelling to refer to the Dutch province (but not the country of New Zealand).
Zimbabwe(Country & Settlement)Shona, Ndebele, English, French, Italian, Dutch, Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Estonian, Polish, Czech, Slovak, Hungarian, Romanian From the Shona language, possibly from dzimba "houses" and ibwe "stone". Great Zimbabwe was an ancient city, falling into ruin in the 15th century. It was located in the country of Zimbabwe, which was named after the ancient city in 1980 when it gained independence from the United Kingdom. It was formerly called Southern Rhodesia by the British.