Etymology

colombo

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Today it means: The commercial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka. Full definition →

Portuguese Colombo ← Sinhalese කොලොන් තොට
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Colombo · proper noun1

  1. Sinhalese · derived fromකොලොන් තොට
  2. Portuguese · borrowed fromColombo
  3. English todayColombo

From Portuguese Colombo, modification (under the influence of the Italian surname, see below) of Sinhalese කොලොන් තොට (kolon toṭa, literally “port on the river Kelani”). Other theories derive the name from Veddah; see w:Colombo § Etymology for more.

Colombo · proper noun2

  1. Italian · borrowed fromColombo
  2. English todayColombo

From Italian Colombo, from colombo (“pigeon, dove”).

Words from the same roots

ItalianColombo all →

Colombiacolumbiad

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.