California

The story

1. Proto-Semitic*ḫalap-
2. Arabicخَلَفَ (ḵalafa)
3. Arabicخَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa)
4. Medieval Latincalīpha
5. Old Frenchcaliphe
6. Middle Frenchcalife
7. Frenchcalife
8. Spanishcalifa
9. SpanishCalifornia
10. English todayCalifornia

Probably Spanish after California, a Utopian island of the Amazons described in Las sergas de Esplandián, a 16th-century Spanish novel. The name comes from the fictional island's Muslim-allied queen, Calafia, whose name may be a play on Arabic خَلِيفَة (ḵalīfa, “caliph”). For more information see: Etymology of California.

Words from the same roots