Etymology

Malaga

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Today it means: A port city, the capital of the province of Malaga, Andalusia, Spain. Full definition →

Spanish Málaga ← Arabic مَالَقَة ← Latin Malaca
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The story

  1. Polish · borrowed fromMalaga
  2. sem-wes-pro · derived from*milḥ-“salt”
  3. Phoenician · derived from𐤌𐤋𐤊
  4. Latin · derived fromMalaca
  5. Arabic · derived fromمَالَقَة
  6. Spanish · borrowed fromMálaga
  7. English todayMalaga

From Spanish Málaga, from Arabic مَالَقَة (mālaqa), from Latin Malaca, from Phoenician 𐤌𐤋𐤊 (mlk /⁠Málaka/ or /Malake⁠/) of uncertain origin but possibly derived from Proto-West Semitic *milḥ- (“salt”). The American places are from the Spanish city. The surname is also sometimes derived via Polish Malaga.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.