Etymology
The name "Gaza" is first known from military records of Thutmose III of Egypt in the 15th century BCE. According to Shahin, the Ancient Egyptians called it "Ghazzat" ("prized city"), and the ancient Arabs often referred to it as "Ghazzat Hashem", in honor of Hashim, the great-grandfather of Muhammad, who is buried in the city, according to Islamic tradition.
Other proper Arabic transliterations for the Arabic name are Ghazzah and ḡazza. Accordingly, "Gaza" might be spelled in English as "Gazza."
Read more about this topic: Gaza
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)
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)