Where does “afríkufíll” come from?

afríkufíll (Icelandic) comes from Icelandic Afríka, from Latin Āfrica, from Latin āfricus, from Latin Āfri, from Albanian afër, from Proto-Albanian apsera, from Proto-Albanian aps, from Latin Apis — the god Apis.

afríkufíll (Icelandic): African elephant

Definitions

  1. African elephant

Ancestry of “afríkufíll”, step by step

afríkufíll traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Icelandic Afríka

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1IcelandicAfríkaAfrica
2LatinĀfricathe territory of Carthage, the African coast west of Cyrenaica
3LatināfricusAfrican
4LatinĀfri
5Albanianafërat, beside, by, near, nearby, near to, next to
6Proto-Albanianapseraat, beside, by, near, nearby, near to, next to
7Proto-Albanianaps
8LatinApisA seaport town of Egypt situated at the borders with Marmarica
9Ancient GreekἌπις
10Copticϩⲁⲡⲉthe Apis bull, a bull worshipped as a herald of the gods (first Ptah, then Osiris, then Atum)
11Egyptianḥpthe god Apis

via Icelandic fíll

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Icelandicfíllan elephant
2Old Norsefíllelephant
3Arabicفِيلelephant; the elephant
4Middle Persianpylelephant; bishop
5Latinpiruma pear
Every word from Egyptian ḥpEvery word from Coptic ϩⲁⲡⲉEvery word from Ancient Greek Ἄπις