Etymology

Egypt

E1G2Y4P3T1

Today it means: A country in North Africa and West Asia. Official name: Arab Republic of Egypt. Capital: Cairo. Full definition →

Middle English Egipt ← Middle French Egypte ← Old French Egypte
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The story

  1. Egyptianḥwt
  2. Egyptiankꜣ
  3. Egyptianptḥ
  4. Egyptianḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ
  5. Ancient GreekΑἴγυπτος (Aíguptos)
  6. LatinAegyptu
  7. Old FrenchEgypte
  8. Middle FrenchEgypte
  9. Middle EnglishEgipt
  10. English todayEgypt

Inherited from Middle English Egipt, borrowed from Middle French Egypte, from Old French Egypte, a learned borrowing from Latin Aegyptus, borrowed from Ancient Greek Αἴγυπτος (Aíguptos), from Egyptian ḥwt-kꜣ-ptḥ, from ḥwt (“enclosure”) + kꜣ (“ka”) + ptḥ (“Ptah”), literally “house of the ka of Ptah”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.