genoa

The story

1. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵónu
2. Proto-Indo-European · derived from*ǵénw-eh₂“knee”
3. Italian · derived fromGenova
4. Latin · borrowed fromGenua
5. English todayGenoa

Borrowed from Latin Genua (with influence from Italian Genova), as the city was known by the ancient Ligurians. Probably from the Ancient Ligurian word for “knee”, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénw-eh₂ (“knee”), a thematic derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu; in this sense “angle”, from its geographical position, thus akin to Geneva.

Words from the same roots