Etymology

Peru

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Today it means: A country in South America. Official name: Republic of Peru. Capital and largest city: Lima. Full definition →

Spanish Perú ← Quechua pelu
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The story

  1. Quechua · derived frompelu“river”
  2. Spanish · borrowed fromPerú
  3. English todayPeru

Borrowed from Spanish Perú, possibly from the personal name Birú, or from the Quechua pelu (“river”).

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.