Hispania

See also: Hispània and Hispânia

English

Etymology

From Latin Hispānia. Doublet of Spain.

Proper noun

Hispania

  1. (historical) The Iberian Peninsula, when under the control of Ancient Rome.

Translations

Ido

Etymology

Borrowed from English Hispania, Hispanian, Hispanic, French Hispanie, hispanique, Spanish hispano, hispánico, ultimately from Latin Hispānia.

Pronunciation
  • IPA(key): /hi.spa.ˈni.a/

Proper noun

Hispania

  1. Spain (a country in Southern Europe, including most of the Iberian peninsula)

Derived terms
  • Hispaniala (“Spanish”)
  • Hispaniana (“Spanish”)
  • Hispaniano (“Spaniard”)

See also

Latin

Alternative forms

Etymology

Traditionally thought to derive from a Phoenician/Punic name Punic *𐤀𐤉𐤔𐤐𐤍 (*ʾyšpn /⁠*ʔī šap̄ān⁠/, literally “island of the hyrax”), with elements equivalent to Hebrew אִי (ʔī, “island”) and Hebrew שָׁפָן (šap̄ā́n, “hyrax”), where the Phoenicians would have thought the land's many rabbits to resemble hyraxes. This theory had some currency among Roman authors,[1] and may explain why Hispania is depicted with rabbits on some Roman coins. But later scholars have sometimes doubted this interpretation[2] and proposed other possible Phoenician etyma, like *𐤀𐤉 𐤑𐤐𐤍 (*ʾy ṣpn /⁠*ʔī ṣappūn⁠/, literally “island of the north”).[3]

Pronunciation

Proper noun

Hispānia f sg (genitive Hispāniae); first declension

  1. Iberian Peninsula (a peninsula in Southern Europe)
    • 27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab Urbe Condita XXIX.1:
      Eadem aestate in Hispania coortum ingens bellum conciente Ilergete Indibili nulla alia de causa quam per admirationem Scipionis contemptu imperatorum aliorum orto: eum superesse unum ducem Romanis ceteris ab Hannibale interfectis.
      During this summer an extensive war broke out in Spain at the instigation of Indibilis, whose sole motive was his intense admiration for Scipio which made him think lightly of other commanders. The people looked upon him as the only general the Romans had left to them, all the others having been killed by Hannibal.
  2. (New Latin) Spain (a country in Southern Europe, including most of the Iberian peninsula)

Declension

First-declension noun, singular only.

Case Singular
Nominative Hispānia
Genitive Hispāniae
Dative Hispāniae
Accusative Hispāniam
Ablative Hispāniā
Vocative Hispānia
  • Hispānia Citerior
  • Hispānia Ulterior
  • Hispānicus
  • Hispāniēnsis
  • Hispānus

Descendants

References
  1. Simón, M. A., editor (2012), Ten years conserving the Iberian lynx, Junta de Andalucía, Seville: Consejería de Agricultura, Pesca y Medio Ambiente, →ISBN, page 1950:
    Hispania, the name that the Romans gave to the peninsular, derives from the Phoenician i-spn-ya, where the prefix i would translate as “coast”, “island” or “land”, ya as “region” and spn[,] in Hebrew saphan, as “rabbits” (in reality, hyraxes). The Romans, therefore, gave Hispania the meaning of“land abundant in rabbits”, a use adopted by Cicero, Cesar, Pliny the Elder and, in particular, Catulo, who referred to Hispania as the cuniculus peninsula.
  2. Azevedo, Milton (2005) Portuguese: A Linguistic Introduction, →ISBN, page 6. He calls the rabbit theory "a charming legend [...of] a Phoenician name, i-shepham-im or 'land of rabbits'".
  3. Dietler, Michael, López-Ruiz, Carolina (2009) Colonial Encounters in Ancient Iberia, →ISBN:
    Cunchillos 2000:224 [...] offers a new interpretation of the etymology of the Roman name for the Iberian Peninsula, i.e., Hispania, as derived from the Northwest Semitic word meaning “island/coast” ('i) and “north” (spn), therefore “northern island, island to the north,” or else “island of the metals (root spy/h, "beat metals", etc.). Both senses would fit well with geographic perceptions that the Iberian Peninsula might have triggered for the Phoenicians.

Swahili

Alternative forms

Pronunciation
  • Audio (Kenya)(file)

Proper noun

Hispania

  1. Spain (a country in Southern Europe, including most of the Iberian peninsula)
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.