Where does “Phoenicia” come from?
Phoenicia (English) comes from Latin Phoenīcia, from Ancient Greek Φοινίκη, from Ancient Greek Φοῖνιξ, from Mycenaean Greek 𐀡𐀛𐀑𐀍, from Egyptian fnḫw, from Egyptian fnḫ — carpenter, woodcutter.
Ancestry of “Phoenicia”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Latin | Phoenīcia | — |
| 2 | Ancient Greek | Φοινίκη | Phoenicia |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | Φοῖνιξ | Phoenician; Carthaginian |
| 4 | Mycenaean Greek | 𐀡𐀛𐀑𐀍 | — |
| 5 | Egyptian | fnḫw | a people in Canaan or Syria, perhaps originally... |
| 6 | Egyptian | fnḫ | carpenter, woodcutter |