Where does “America” come from?

America derives from Latin Americus, which comes from Italian Enrico, ultimately from Old High German Haimirich, combining haimaz and rihhi, tracing to Proto-Indo-European kōim-.

Ancestry of “America”, step by step

America traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via Latin America

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1LatinAmerica
2ItalianAmerigo
3Proto-Germanic*Amalarīks
4Proto-GermanicHaimarīksHenry
5Proto-Germanicrīksking, ruler
6Proto-Celticrīxsking
7Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃rḗǵsking, ruler
8Proto-Indo-Europeanh₃reǵ-to straighten, to right oneself; right; just

via Japanese アメリカ

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1JapaneseアメリカAmerica, United States

via New Latin America

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1New LatinAmerica

Words derived from “America

Every word from Proto-Indo-European h₃reǵ-