Phoenicia

P3H4O1E1N1I1C3I1A1
/fəˈnɪʃɪə//fəˈniːʃɪə//fəˈnɪʃə/

proper noun

The land of city states of the Phoenicians which around 1000 BC was situated on the coast of present day Syria and Lebanon, and included the cities of Tyre and Sidon.

OriginLatin Phoenicia ← Ancient Greek Φοινίκη ← Egyptian fnḫw →
UncommonScrabble 16
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Meanings

proper noun

alternative nonstandard Phenicia · alternative archaic Phœnicia

  1. The land of city states of the Phoenicians which around 1000 BC was situated on the coast of present day Syria and Lebanon, and included the cities of Tyre and Sidon.
  2. The trading empire of the Phoenicians which spread across most of the eastern Mediterranean Sea as far west as Sicily.

Origin

  1. Egyptianfnḫw
  2. Ancient GreekΦοινίκη
  3. LatinPhoenicia
  4. EnglishPhoenicia

Borrowed from Latin Phoenicia, itself a borrowing from Ancient Greek Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē). The word is already found in the Mycenaean Greek ethnonym 𐀡𐀛𐀑𐀍 (po-ni-ki-jo). Ultimately from Egyptian fnḫw, f:n:x-w-V12:Z2 ‘Canaanites, Syrians’.

More words from Latin, Ancient Greek, Egyptian

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Ancient Greek Φοινίκη
  • Φοινίκη (Phoiníkē)land of the Phoenicians
Arabic فِينِيقِيَا
  • فِينِيقِيَا (fīnīqiyā)land of the Phoenicians
Basque Fenizia
  • Fenizialand of the Phoenicians
Bengali ফিনিশিয়া, ফোনিশিয়া
  • ফিনিশিয়া (phiniśiẏa)land of the Phoenicians
  • ফোনিশিয়া (phōniśiẏa)land of the Phoenicians
Bulgarian Фини́кия
  • Фини́кия (Finíkija)land of the Phoenicians
Catalan Fenícia
  • Fenícialand of the Phoenicians
Chinese Cantonese 腓尼基
  • 腓尼基 (fei⁴ nei⁴ gei¹)land of the Phoenicians
Chinese Mandarin 腓尼基
  • 腓尼基 (Féiníjī)land of the Phoenicians
Czech Fénicie
  • Fénicieland of the Phoenicians
Danish Fønikien
  • Fønikienland of the Phoenicians
Dutch Fenicië
  • Feniciëland of the Phoenicians
Esperanto Fenicio
  • Fenicioland of the Phoenicians
Finnish Foinikia
  • Foinikialand of the Phoenicians
French Phénicie
  • Phénicieland of the Phoenicians
German Phönizien
  • Phönizienland of the Phoenicians
Hawaiian Poinikia
  • Poinikialand of the Phoenicians
Hungarian Fönícia
  • Fönícialand of the Phoenicians
Irish an Fhéiníc
  • an Fhéinícland of the Phoenicians
Italian Fenicia
  • Fenicialand of the Phoenicians
Japanese フェニキア
  • フェニキア (Fenikia)land of the Phoenicians
Latin Phoenīcia
  • Phoenīcialand of the Phoenicians
Malay Finiq, فينيق
  • Finiqland of the Phoenicians
  • فينيقland of the Phoenicians
Persian فنیقیه
  • فنیقیه (feniqiye)land of the Phoenicians
Polish Fenicja
  • Fenicjaland of the Phoenicians
Portuguese Fenícia
  • Fenícialand of the Phoenicians
Romanian Fenicia
  • Fenicialand of the Phoenicians
Russian Финики́я
  • Финики́я (Finikíja)land of the Phoenicians
Slovak Fenícia
  • Fenícialand of the Phoenicians
Spanish Fenicia
  • Fenicialand of the Phoenicians
Swedish Fenicien
  • Fenicienland of the Phoenicians
Turkish Fenike
  • Fenikeland of the Phoenicians
Ukrainian Фінікі́я
  • Фінікі́я (Finikíja)land of the Phoenicians
Cite this entry
APA

Phoenicia. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phoenicia

MLA

“Phoenicia.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phoenicia. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Phoenicia,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Phoenicia.

Source: Phoenicia on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.