Where does “Lappland” come from?
Lappland (English) comes from English Lapp, from Swedish läpp, from Old Swedish lapper, from Finnish lappalainen, from Finnish -läinen, from Finnish laji, from Old Swedish slagh, from Middle Low German slach — to hit.
Ancestry of “Lappland”, step by step
Lappland traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via English Lapp
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | English | Lapp | An indigenous person from Lapland. One of the... |
| 2 | Swedish | läpp | lip |
| 3 | Old Swedish | lapper | — |
| 4 | Finnish | lappalainen | A Sami |
| 5 | Finnish | -läinen | Front vowel variant of -lainen |
| 6 | Finnish | laji | kind, sort; species; sport |
| 7 | Old Swedish | slagh | — |
| 8 | Middle Low German | slach | — |
| 9 | Old Saxon | slag | — |
| 10 | Proto-West Germanic | slagi | blow, strike |
| 11 | Swedish | slagg | slag metallurgical waste material |
| 12 | Low German | slagge | — |
| 13 | Middle Low German | slagge | — |
| 14 | Middle Low German | slān | to hit, strike |
| 15 | Old Saxon | slāhan | to hit |