Etymology

Portingale

P3O1R1T1I1N1G2A1L1E1

Today it means: A Portuguese person. Full definition →

Middle English Portyngale ← Middle French Portingal ← Latin Portucale
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The story

  1. Latin · derived fromPortucale
  2. Middle French · derived fromPortingal
  3. Middle English · inherited fromPortyngale
  4. English todayPortingale

From Middle English Portyngale, from Middle French Portingal, which added an intrusive /n/ sound through the process of excrescence, from Latin Portucale.

Words from the same roots

Middle EnglishPortyngale all →

Pettengill

LatinPortucale all →

Portugal

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.