Etymology

Antioch

An·ti·och
A1N1T1I1O1C3H4

Today it means: Ancient name of Antakya: a city in southeastern Turkey, formerly the capital of the ancient Seleucid Empire and the Crusader Principality of Antioch and a major port of the Roman and Byzantine Empires. Full definition →

Middle English Antioche ← Old French Antioche ← Latin Antiochīa
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The story

  1. Ancient Greek · derived fromἈντιόχεια
  2. Latin · derived fromAntiochīa
  3. Old French · derived fromAntioche
  4. Middle English · inherited fromAntioche
  5. English todayAntioch

Inherited from Middle English Antioche, from Old French Antioche, from Latin Antiochīa, from Ancient Greek Ἀντιόχεια (Antiókheia), from Ἀντίοχος (Antíokhos) + -εια (-eia, “-ia: forming place names”), originally from the father of Seleucus I Nicator, the general of Alexander the Great who founded the Seleucid Empire. The name was then borne by other Seleucid emperors, who named various cities after themselves. Later cities in the United States, etc., were subsequently named for the earlier ones, particularly the Syrian Antioch which was an important center of early Christianity. Compare Alexandria, Laodicea, Apamea, Ptolemais, and Seleucia.

Words from the same roots

LatinAntiochīa all →

Ancient GreekἈντιόχεια all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.