Free City of Tri-Insula

The story

1. Latin · learned borrowing fromtri-
2. English todayFree City of Tri-Insula

From free city (“city characterized by relative autonomy”) + of + a learned borrowing from Latin tri- (combining form of trēs (“three”)) + īnsula (“island”), coined by the 76th mayor of New York City, Fernando Wood (1812–1881), in 1861.

Words from the same roots

First known use, by meaning

• from 1861 A proposed city-state comprising Long Island, Manhattan, and Staten Island, put forward on January 6th, 1861, by the mayor of New York City, Fernando Wood, shortly before the beginning of the American Civil War.