Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Africa” come from?

Africa comes from Latin Africa, originally an adjective suffix -icus applied to a geographical region, with the suffix later grammaticalized as part of the place name itself.

Ancestry of “Africa”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Old FrenchAffrike—
2Latināfricus—
3LatinĀfri—
4Albanianafërat, beside, by, near, nearby, near to, next to
5Proto-Albanianapseraat, beside, by, near, nearby, near to, next to
6Proto-Albanianaps—
7LatinApis—
8Ancient GreekἌπις—
9Copticϩⲁⲡⲉ—
10Egyptianḥp—

Words derived from “Africa”

  • Africa
  • Africana
  • Afrikaner
  • Afrikanerdom
  • Africology
  • Afrikanerism
  • Afrikaans
  • africia
  • Africa
  • africanus
  • africana
  • africana
  • panafricano
  • africanizar
  • africanista
  • afrikáans
  • afrikáner
  • africanito
  • panafricanista
  • africanismo
  • africano
  • panafricanismo
  • Africa
  • А́фрика
Every word from Egyptian ḥp →