Etymology

atoll

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Today it means: A type of island consisting of a ribbon reef that nearly or entirely surrounds a lagoon and supports, in most cases, one to many islets on the reef platform. Full definition →

Portuguese atol ← dv އަތޮޅު ← Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞
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The story

  1. Prakrit · derived from*𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞
  2. dv · derived fromއަތޮޅު
  3. Portuguese · borrowed fromatol
  4. English todayatoll

Borrowed from Portuguese atol, from Dhivehi އަތޮޅު (atoḷu), possibly from Prakrit *𑀲𑀁𑀢𑀻𑀞 (*saṃtīṭha), from Sanskrit सम्- (sam-) + तीर्थ (tīrtha) “level ford”. The traditional etymology from Persian آبتل (âb-tal, “water-hillock”) is unlikely.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.