The story
- Portuguese · derived fromSerra Leoa“lioness mountains”
- Italian · borrowed fromsierra“mountain range”
- English todaySierra Leone
From Italian sierra (“mountain range”) + leone (“lion”) (via Venetian), itself from Portuguese Serra Leoa (“lioness mountains”), as the area was described to the rest of Europe by Venetian explorer Alvise Cadamosto; in reference to the Lion Mountains (named by Pedro de Sintra in 1462).
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.