Maluku

The story

1. Arabic · derived fromجَزِيرَات المَلِك
2. English todayMaluku

The islands are said to have been named Arabic جَزِيرَات المَلِك (jazīrāt al-malik, literally “king islands”) by Arab merchants. However, since the name itself has been mentioned in a 14th-century Majapahit eulogy, Nagarakretagama, that predates the arrival of Islam in Maluku at the late fifteenth century, other sources claim that the name comes from a local language with the meaning "the head of a bull" or "the head of something large".

Words from the same roots