Austria

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European*h₂ews-
2. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éwss?
3. Proto-Indo-European*h₂éwsteros
4. Proto-Germanic*austraz
5. Proto-Germanic*austrą
6. Proto-West Germanic*austr
7. Old High Germanōstar
8. Proto-Indo-European*h₃reǵ-
9. Proto-Indo-European*h₃rḗǵs
10. Proto-Celtic*rīgyom
11. Proto-Germanic*rīkiją
12. Proto-West Germanic*rīkī
13. Old High Germanrīhhi
14. Old High GermanŌstarrīhhi
15. LatinAustria
16. English todayAustria

From Latin Austria, a Latinization of Old High German Ōstarrīhhi, the first element of which means "east" and stems from Proto-Germanic *austraz (“eastern”), and the second element of which is rīhhi (“realm”). See east, eastern for more. Distantly cognate to Australia: it derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root, but via Latin, where it came to mean “south” rather than “east”. Compare also Austrasia.

Words from the same roots