Etymology

San Salvador Island

Today it means: The first island discovered by Christopher Columbus during his first voyage. Full definition →

Spanish isla
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The story

  1. Spanish · borrowed fromisla
  2. English todaySan Salvador Island

From Spanish isla San Salvador, given by Christopher Columbus in thanks to Jesus Christ for surviving his first voyage. The identity of the Bahaman island that currently bears the name with Columbus's island is still highly contested. The Ecuadorian island was renamed in honor of Columbus's in 1892 as part of the quadricentennial celebration of his voyage.

Words from the same roots

Spanishisla all →

IslaFloreana

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.