List of words derived from toponyms
Here is a list of toponyms, names derived from a place or region.
General
- Acapulco (as in ... gold)
- Angora
- Armageddon
- Auschwitz
- Babel
- Balkanization (from the Balkans)
- Bantustan
- Bay St.
- Beltway
- Berlin Wall
- Bible, bibliography (named after location of Bublos or Byblos)
- Bikini
- the Blarney
- Boetian
- Bohemian
- Bordeaux
- Brazilianization
- Bronx Cheer
- Brummagem (denotes goods of shoddy quality, from Birmingham)
- Bungalow
- Burgundy
- Byzantine
- Canary
- Cantaloupe (named after the Pope's summer residence of Cantalupo)
- Carthaginian (peace)
- Caucasian
- Champagne
- Chautauqua
- China
- Chinese Wall
- Sent to Coventry
- Cuban (sub sandwich in Florida)
- Denim
- Detroit
- Dijon
- Dixieland
- Dollar
- Donneybrook
- Doolally
- Duffel coat (named after a town in Belgium)
- Dunkirk spirit
- Eden
- El Dorado
- Essex ('common' or 'nouveau riche' sensibility)
- Fez (hat)
- Finlandization
- Frankfurter
- Georgia (font)
- Gibraltar
- Greek (all Greek to me)
- Gypsy (from Egyptian)
- Hamburger
- Havana (cigar)
- Hell
- Hicksville
- Holland (cotton or linen fabric)
- Hollandaise
- Hollywood
- Iliad (see Troy)
- Indian
- Java
- Jersey (tomato, milk, cream, as well as jumper)
- Jerez (sherry)
- Labyrinth
- Left Bank
- Lesbian (from Lesbos)
- Lilliputian (from Gulliver's Travels)
- Madison Avenue
- Magenta
- Manhattan
- Marathon
- Madeira
- Madras (plaid)
- Manchester (as in textiles)
- Manila
- Marseillaise
- Masada
- Mausaleum (technically this is a building, rather than a region)
- Mecca
- Mocha
- Mongoloid
- Motown
- Maus
- Neanderthal
- Nuremberg (defense)
- Olympian, Olympics (from Mount Olympus)
- Paisley
- Palookaville
- Peking Duck (see also Peking)
- Peoria
- Peyton Place
- Port
- Rubicon
- Rugby (but Rugby shirt and Rugby ball are not considered toponyms)
- Salisbury Steak (one of many British foods named after places)
- Sardine
- Seltzer (commercial name)
- Shambala
- Shanghai (verb)
- Shangrai-la (mythical)
- Siamese (cats, twins)
- Sent to Siberia
- Sodomy (see Sodom)
- Solecism
- Spa (resort in Belgium)
- Stalingrad
- Surrey (horse-drawn carriage)
- Timbuktu
- Trojan Horse (see Troy)
- Trojaned
- Utopia
- Wall Street
- Watergate
- Woodstock
- Xanadu (mythical)
- Zion
Events/Agreements
Cheese
- American
- Aveyron(nais)
- Caerphilly
- Cheddar
- Cheshire
- Colby
- Derby
- Gloucester
- Gorgonzola
- Gouda
- Gruyere
- Lancashire
- Leicester
- Limburg(er)
- Monterey (Jacks)
- Munster
- Parme(san)
- Roma(no)
- Roquefort
- Swiss
- Tilsit
- Wensleydale
Elements
- Americium (the United States of America)
- Berkelium (Berkley, home of University of California, Berkeley)
- Californium (California)
- Erbium (Ytterby, village in Sweden)
- Europium (Europe)
- Francium (France)
- Gallium (Gallia, Latin name for France)
- Germanium (Germany)
- Hafnium (Hafnia, Latin name for Copenhagen)
- Holmium (Holmia, Latin name for Stockholm)
- Lutetium (Latetia, old name for Paris)
- Magnesium (Magnesia, district in Thessaly)
- Polonium (Poland)
- Rhenium (Rhenus, Latin name for Rhine)
- Ruthenium (Ruthenia, Latin name for Russia)
- Scandium (Scandia, Latin name for Scandinavia)
- Strontium (Strontiun, town in Scotland
- Terbium (Ytterby, village in Sweden)
- Thulium (Thule, ancient name for Scandinavia)
- Ytterbium (Ytterby, village in Sweden)
- Yttrium (Ytterby, village in Sweden)
See also: Chemical element