Etymology

Slave Coast

Today it means: A region of West Africa on the coast of the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean from the Volta River to the Lagos Lagoon or Niger Delta, now comprising the coasts of Togo, Benin, and parts of Nigeria. Full definition →

Portuguese Costa dos Escravos ← Dutch Slavenkust
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The story

  1. Dutch · borrowed fromSlavenkust
  2. Portuguese · calque ofCosta dos Escravos
  3. English todaySlave Coast

A calque of Portuguese Costa dos Escravos from the area's importance as a source of African slaves to European traders from the 16th to 19th centuries. As a Dutch territory, a calque of Dutch Slavenkust.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.