Etymology Explorer › English

Where does “Algiers” come from?

Algiers comes from Arabic al-jazāʾir, the plural of jazīrah meaning "island," referring to the islands in the bay of the North African coast.

Ancestry of “Algiers”, step by step

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1FrenchAlgerAlgiers
2Algerian Arabicالدزَاير—
3Arabicاَلْجَزَائِرthe islands; Algiers
4Arabicجَزِيرَةisland

Words derived from “Algiers”

  • algerine
Every word from Arabic جَزِيرَة →