Etymology

Giza

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Today it means: A city on the west bank of the Nile river, Egypt, famous for its ancient monuments including the Great Sphinx of Giza and the Great Pyramid of Giza. Full definition →

Egyptian Arabic اَلْجِيزَة
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The story

  1. Egyptian Arabic · borrowed fromاَلْجِيزَة
  2. English todayGiza

From Egyptian Arabic اَلْجِيزَة (il-Gīza). The etymology is uncertain. Al-Maqrizi derives it from Classical Syriac ܓܸܣܵܐ (gessā, “side”). Peust suggests a Persian etymology from Persian دز (dez, “castle”). Everett-Heath suggests an Egyptian etymology from Egyptian r-gs-ḥr (“on the side of the high one (pyramid)”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.