Algeria

The story

1. Arabicجَزَائِر بَنِي مَزْغَنَّى (jazāʔir banī mazḡannā)ellip.
2. Arabicالْجَزَائِر (al-jazāʔir)
3. FrenchAlger
4. EnglishAlger
5. FrenchAlgérieinflu.
6. English todayAlgeria

From Alger + -ia, modified based on French Algérie, from the French Alger (“Algiers”) + -ie, from Algerian Arabic الدزَاير (ed-dzayer), from Arabic اَلْجَزَائِر (al-jazāʔir, “the islands”) (with elision of the first vowel), plural of جَزِيرَة (jazīra, “island”), referring to the several small islands that once existed in the Bay of Algiers. Doublet of Algiers and Algeciras.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1575 Ottoman Algeria, also the regency of Algiers or al-Jazā’ir in Arabic, from 1515 to 1830.
• from 1575 French or Colonial Algeria, from 1830 to 1962.
• from 1575 The People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, since 1962.