Etymology of Name
The origin of the name Ikata is unclear and there are several competing theories.
- It may have come from iekata (家方?) or iokata (庵方?), meaning "a place with small houses or shacks".
- Ika can be found in the names of places surrounded by mountains or located in foothills; ta can mean "land". Ikata could therefore be "a place by the mountains".
- In the Ainu language, ika means "to pass through the mountains and cross the land". However, the Ainu are thought to have had little influence as far south as Shikoku.
Read more about this topic: Ikata, Ehime, Culture
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)