Sofia

Sofia · proper noun¹

1. Ottoman Turkish · derived fromصوفیه
2. Medieval Greek · derived fromΝαός Ἁγίας Σοφίας“Church of Holy Wisdom”
3. Bulgarian · borrowed fromСо́фия
4. Ancient Greek · derived fromΣοφία“wisdom, especially divine wisdom”
5. English todaySofia

Variant spelling of Sophia and from various other languages' own adaptations of Ancient Greek Σοφία (Sophía, “wisdom, especially divine wisdom”). Sometimes borrowed into English as an anglicization of an accented or closely related form, as with Spanish Sofía, Welsh Soffia, and Hungarian Zsófia. As the capital of Bulgaria, via nonstandard, though now official, romanization of Bulgarian Со́фия (Sófija), from църква „Света София“ (cărkva „Sveta Sofija“), from Medieval Greek Ναός Ἁγίας Σοφίας (Naós Hagías Sophías, “Church of Holy Wisdom”), the city's prominent 6th-century Byzantine Greek church, first attested being used as the name for the city in the 14th century and reinforced under Ottoman rule as Ottoman Turkish صوفیه (Sofya). Compare the name of the Hagia Sophia.

Sofia · proper noun²

1. Malagasy · borrowed fromSofia
2. English todaySofia

From Malagasy Sofia of uncertain origin. The region is named for the river.

Words from the same roots