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Country Name Etymologies #2

Difficulty level: hard. We describe the origin of the country name. You guess the country.
Answer must correspond to yellow box
Quiz by Quizmaster
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Last updated: October 15, 2019
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First submittedJune 16, 2019
Times taken54,034
Average score47.6%
Rating4.92
5:00
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Hint
Country
"Equator" in Spanish
Ecuador
"Village" in the Iroquois language
Canada
Derived from Latin.
Julius Caesar used it to refer to all
tribes east of the Rhine.
Germany
Describes its importance to the
trade in elephant tusks
Ivory Coast
"Indian Islands" in Greek
Indonesia
Named after the second highest
mountain in Africa
Kenya
Describes its position in the
middle of the continent
Central African
Republic
Named for a river that drains
into the Dead Sea
Jordan
Spanish for "old" and "bearded"
Antigua and
Barbuda
"Lion Mountains"
Sierra Leone
Hint
Country
Spanish for "silvery"
Argentina
German for "light stone"
Liechtenstein
An adaptation of its former name:
"The Gilbert Islands"
Kiribati
Combination of the country's peninsula
and its ruling royal family
Saudi Arabia
Named after Maurice of Nassau,
leader of the Netherlands
Mauritius
A derivation of Marrakesh,
the former capital
Morocco
Variation of the Spanish for "low sea"
Bahamas
A portmanteau of Punjab, Afghania,
Kashmir, Sindh, and Baluchistan
Pakistan
Named for a Viking tribe that settled
along the Black Sea
Russia
Named after a rich Biblical king
Solomon Islands
Sanskrit for "holy island"
Sri Lanka
+11
Level 77
Jun 16, 2019
Theory about the name Rus is not so strong, but it is maybe true. Similar names can be found all over the Slavic world. For example, one of the Serbian medieval countries had name Raška (Rashka) with city Ras in it.
+6
Level 66
Dec 15, 2019
Doesnt seem weak to me etymology of "russia" . If you can find a better argumented alternative etymology I would love to see it (no sarcasm, we need all the info to come to the best possible conclusion, right.)

If you want a long(er) read look here

+8
Level 88
Jun 17, 2019
Wow, Bahamas was a difficult one.. How do you make "low sea" in Spanish from this?
+14
Level 77
Jun 17, 2019
Equally confused how Kiribati is derived from Gilbert Islands
+16
Level 63
Jun 17, 2019
"Kiribati" is the Kiribati rendition of "Gilberts".
+19
Level 84
Jun 17, 2019
It's how the i-Kiribati understood the sound of "Gilberts", and, more importantly, how they write it.

For example, the "ti" in Kiribati is pronunced as "s": "Christmas" turns into "Kiritimati".

+3
Level 82
Jun 26, 2019
It's pronounced something like Kiribes, which is more obviously a simplification/adaptation of Gilberts
+8
Level 66
Jul 4, 2019
just say it like gilibati first. Makes quite a lot of sense once you see it. (and picture it with a more asian accent)
+13
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
Polynesian languages have very few consonants so the foreign ones get substituted for something familiar. Also they usually can't have consonant clusters and words use a consonant-vowel-consonant-vowel pattern like in Japanese, so vowel sounds get inserted between and after consonants in loan words. Merry Christmas in Hawaiian comes out as Mele Kalikimaka. I don't know much about Gilbertese but it looks like it may be similar.
+13
Level 84
Jun 17, 2019
Also I was stuck on thinking that the answer for the Maurice of Nassau clue was Bahamas.
+14
Level 88
Jun 17, 2019
I guess from the words ¨baja¨ and ¨mar¨... Also ¨bajamar¨ means low tide, maybe related to how low the islands are in general, that you can see them only when low tide.
+1
Level 66
Jun 25, 2019
baha = meas low; mas means more

so its means something like more low / lower

+3
Level 66
Dec 15, 2019
Pretty sure mas in bahamas does not come from more... mar is sea in spanish and mares is the plural. Most likely mares became contracted (or whatever the english term/description for this process is) to ma's
+7
Level 82
Jan 26, 2020
a corruption of baja mar. /r/ and /s/ sounds are often confused over time, in different accents, or in translation.
+3
Level 79
Oct 22, 2021
It's baja mar. Say it fast. It's pretty obvious, actually.
+2
Level 75
Jan 1, 2022
Baja mar = Low Sea
+1
Level 72
Jun 19, 2022
Bajo mar
+1
Level 57
Jul 27, 2022
baja is low. Mar is sea. bajamar isn't obviously the Bahamas by spelling, but phonetically it's quite similar.
+1
Level 58
Aug 3, 2023
Not sure it's similar. At least if you say it in spanish.
+3
Level 63
Jun 17, 2019
Liechtenstein is named after the ruling dynasty. See house of Liechtenstein. Their name is German for "light stone".
+2
Level 45
Oct 10, 2019
Note sure that's correct. The spelling 'Liecht' does not occur in modern or medieval German. It could mean 'bright', or 'shining', but also 'of little weight'.
+2
Level 69
Jun 17, 2019
I love this quiz, but it’s tough and could use a bit more time.
+2
Level 79
Jun 17, 2019
Great quiz, quite tough, I managed to work out a few I didn't already know and learned some new ones
+2
Level 87
Jun 17, 2019
I can usually guess which question will get the fewest right answers, but I was wrong this time. Just sounded it out.. baja mar.
+1
Level 66
May 4, 2023
Not many people learn Spanish to know a phrase as uncommon as this. I knew "mar" but thought low would be "bassa" similar to in French.
+6
Level 50
Jun 17, 2019
Pakistan is actually an acronym representing the punjab, afghan, and kashmir people
+9
Level 73
Jun 18, 2019
also S for Sind and TAN from Baluchistan. Although STAN can mean country on its own.

It's an acronym and it has the meaning this quiz says it has.

+1
Level 88
Jun 19, 2019
Fun!
+5
Level 90
Jun 22, 2019
Shouldn't the Argentinian clue say Latin instead of Spanish? Plata is the Spanish word for silver, while argentum is Latin.
+1
Level 90
Jun 22, 2019
In fact, according to wikipedia it may come from Italian.
+1
Level ∞
Jun 25, 2019
"Silvery" not "silver".

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/argentina#Spanish

+1
Level 73
Jun 28, 2019
Very hard quiz! Nice challenge.
+1
Level 69
Sep 25, 2019
nice, loads tougher than #1.
+2
Level 68
Oct 10, 2019
For the clue about elephant tusks, I swear all I could think of was Tuscany (yes, I know that Tuscany is not a country), and it was so funny to me that I couldn't think of the (obvious) correct answer.
+2
Level 67
Oct 10, 2019
Canada kinda surprised me. Interesting quiz.
+4
Level 60
Oct 10, 2019
Canada is from Alogonquin and not Iroquois, although I understand the confusion
+6
Level 76
Oct 15, 2019
While Pakistan may coincidently mean Land of the Pure in a mixture of languages, this is an etymology quiz. The real origin of the name (Pakstan with the i added later to help pronunciation) was as an acronym for Punjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and BaluchisTAN. This is the true etymology of the name.
+4
Level ∞
Oct 15, 2019
Didn't know that, thanks. The clue has been amended.
+3
Level 68
Feb 1, 2020
Antigua means 'ancient' rather than 'old'
+1
Level ∞
Feb 1, 2020
False.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/antigua

+4
Level 50
Sep 30, 2021
more commonly it is "ancient"

https://translate.google.com/?sl=es&tl=en&text=antigua&op=translate

"viejo" is usually used for old, like old man, etc

+1
Level 76
Sep 21, 2022
@dthunder518 As a native spanish speaker, I can attest to this.
+1
Level 43
May 5, 2020
Make more pls! good time!
+1
Level 59
Jun 28, 2020
How did I miss my own country? Stupid Germania..
+1
Level 67
Aug 24, 2020
Woah I'm Pakistani and never really knew that
+8
Level 78
Mar 8, 2021
You never knew you were Pakistani?
+4
Level 59
Jul 1, 2021
This is the epitome of jetpunk humour nowadays, and I absolutely live for it
+1
Level 67
Aug 10, 2021
Yes.
+3
Level 52
May 20, 2021
if i had a nickel for every time there was a country named after lions that doesnt have any lions in it, id only have 2 but its weird that it happened twice
+2
Level 52
Jul 13, 2021
i was so confused

low sea = mar bajo

what country sounds like mar bajo?

but then i realised it was flipped lol

+2
Level 54
Aug 27, 2021
As a Sri Lankan, Sri Lanka definitely does not mean holy island in sanskrit. The Sri part is a sanskrit honorific but the Lanka part is derived from E'lu, the precursor to the local language sinhala in which 'Lankawa' which means island.

You could say the Sri part is sanskrit, but the Lanka part is not so it creates confusion.

It would be better to give a clue like "Which country's name in Persian was used as the base for the word serendipity?"

+2
Level 76
Sep 21, 2022
That clue suggestion is an incredibly obscure reference and not at all at the same level as the rest of the questions.
+1
Level 65
Dec 29, 2021
Nice quiz! Two little things:

Maurice --> Maurits

A caveat about English names could be helpful for countries like Germany, where the English name is very different from the German name.

+1
Level 71
Dec 29, 2021
Veeery cool. Clever quiz
+2
Level 66
Feb 5, 2023
Bahamas does not come from Spanish. It comes from the Lucayan Bahama, meaning "Large upper middle island",
+1
Level 59
May 4, 2023
Normally only Solomon works
+1
Level 59
May 4, 2023
https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/1744710/country-name-etymologies-3

I made a sequel if you'd like to add it to this series!

+1
Level 67
Aug 8, 2023
2:15, these are so interesting
+1
Level 46
Feb 24, 2024
Shouldn't it be 'Latin for silvery'? The word for silver in Spanish is plata.