List of Words Derived From Toponyms - General

General

• Alberta clipper — a weather phenomenon named after the Canadian province of Alberta where it originates
• Angora goat, Angora rabbit, Angora wool (obtained from the previous two), Angora cat — named after Angora, variant or former name of Ankara, their place of origin
• Antimacassar — after Makassar, Indonesia which was the source of hair oil
• Armageddon — after "mount of Megiddo", where the battle was to be fought according to myth
• badminton — after Badminton in Gloucestershire, England
• balkanization — after the Balkans, region in southeastern Europe similarly divided into small nations in the twentieth century

• bangalored — after the, used often in US when they lose a job due to outsourcing from Bangalore, first time use by the magazine "The Economist", usage: He is sulking today because he got bangalored

• Bedford cord, a heavy fabric with a ribbed weave similar to corduroy; named after either Bedford, England or possibly New Bedford, Massachusetts.
• Bedlam — meaning pandemonium, after popular name/pronunciation of St Mary of Bethlehem, London's first psychiatric hospital
• Bedlington terrier, a breed of dog, after Bedlington, UK
• bikini — two-piece bathing suit for women, after Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands where atomic bombs were tested in 1946; supposedly analogous to the "explosive" effect on the male libido.
• the Blarney and Blarney Stone — Blarney Castle
• Boeotian, an ancient Greek term for a fool, after the Boeotian people
• bohemian — term referring to artists, writers, and other people who wished to live an unconventional, vagabond, or "gypsy" lifestyle; from Bohemia, where "gypsies" were erroneously thought to originate. See also gypsy, below.
• Brabançonne, national anthem of Belgium — Brabant, province of Belgium
• Bronx cheer — a noise made by the mouth to signify derision; after The Bronx, a borough of New York City
• brummagem — goods of shoddy quality; from a local pronunciation of Birmingham, city in the United Kingdom
• bungalow — a low building or house, from a Gujarati word meaning "Bengalese", used elliptically to mean a house built in the style of Bengal
• Byzantine, used to describe any work, law, or organization that is excessively complex or difficult to understand, named after Byzantine Empire
• calico — a type of cloth named after Calicut, where Europeans first obtained it. Calico cat and calico horse are derived from the appearance of their mottled coat suggesting calico cloth.
• canary — a small yellow bird, originating on and named after the Canary Islands, specifically the largest island, Gran Canaria, called in Latin Insula Canaria, "island of dogs", after the wild native dogs found there.
• Caucasian — name for the "white race", coined by anthropologist Johann Blumenbach after Caucasus Mountains, their supposed ancestral homeland.
• chautauqua — a form of local fair, after Chautauqua, New York, where the first one was held
• Chicago Typewriter, a nickname for the Thompson submachine gun
• chihuahua — small dog from Chihuahua, state of Mexico
• china — originally chinaware, as in "wares from China"
• Chinese wall, artificial organizational barrier, derived from Great Wall of China
• coach — a type of carriage, ultimately from Hungarian kocsi (szekér) or "carriage of Kocs", where this vehicle was first made.
• Coldstream Guards — regiment founded at Coldstream in Scotland
• Coventry (in the construction "Send to Coventry"): shunned by friends and family, after the treatment of Royalist prisoners during the English Civil War
• Damask — material, from Damascus
• denim — a coarse cotton fabric, from French serge de Nîmes, or "serge of Nîmes", where the cloth originated.
• dollar — a unit of currency, originally from the German taler, an abbreviation of Joachimstaler ("gulden of Joachimstal"), a coin minted (1519) from silver mined near Joachimsthal, Bohemia
• donnybrook — colloquial term for a brawl or fracas, derived from Donnybrook Fair, an annual horse fair in the Dublin suburb notorious for fighting and drunkenness.
• doolally or dolally — an adjective meaning "mad" or "eccentric" (e.g. "to go dolally"), ultimately named after Deolali, a hill station near Nashik in colonial India, referring to the apparent madness of men waiting to return to Britain after their tour of duty.
• duffel or duffle — heavy woollen cloth, hence duffel coat and duffel bag; after Duffel, a town in Belgium where it was first made
• Dunkirk spirit, after the evacuation of Dunkirk in World War II
• Fez, (also called tarboosh), a hat — Fez, a city in Morocco
• Finlandization, the influence a large country can have on a smaller one, after Finland
• geyser, a hot water spring — Geysir in Iceland
• Glasgow kiss, a slang term meaning headbutt — Glasgow, Scotland
• Greek, not understandable ("all Greek to me") — Greek language of Greece
• Gypsies, nomadic peoples in Europe and United States — Egypt
• Habanera — a musical style named after Havana, Cuba
• Hackney carriage, name for the London taxicab, probably from Hackney in London, England
• Havana, cigar — from capital of Cuba
• Honiton, a form of lace, after the town in Devon (England) where it is produced
• Holland, cotton or linen fabric — Holland
• iliad — a long narrative poem, or a series of woes, trials, etc.; both derive from the Homeric epic Iliad, literally meaning "of Ilium" (or Troy).
• Indian, the aboriginal peoples of the New World, after India
• japanning, application of lacquer, after Japan
• Jeans, denim trousers; Genoa.
• Jersey cattle (also tomato, milk, cream, jumper) — Jersey, one of the Channel Islands
• Labyrinth, maze, after a legendary structure on Crete
• Left Bank, style of life, fashion, or "look" — "Left Bank", bank of the Seine which is to the left, near Paris
• Leghorn chicken — after Leghorn, historical name for Livorno, Italy
• Lesbian, female homosexual — Lesbos, island in Greece
• Lipizzaner, a breed of horse — Lipica, town in Slovenia
• Magenta, colour — named after Magenta, Lombardy
• Marathon, long race — Marathon, Greece, town
• Madras, lightweight cotton fabic — Madras, old name for Chennai, coastal city in southeastern India
• Manila envelopes, Manila fiber — Manila, city in Philippines
• Marseillaise, national anthem of France — Marseille, city in France
• Masada, a mass suicide when conditions are hopeless, after Masada, Israel
• Mausoleum, a large and impressive tomb — Mausoleum of Maussollos in Turkey
• meander, a bend in a river — Meander, a river in Turkey
• Mecca, ultimate destination or activity center — Mecca, holy city in Saudi Arabia
• Mongoloid race — Mongolia, country in northern Asia
• Muslin, a lightweight fabric — Mosul, Iraq
• Neanderthal man, known by his fossils — Neanderthal, Germany, valley where the fossils were found
• Olympics, worldwide games — Mount Olympus, tallest mountain in Greece
• Ottoman (furniture), a type of stool — after the Ottoman Empire
• Paisley (design), used in shawls — Paisley, Scotland
• Panama hat — Panama in Central America, where it was first sold
• Portland cement — named after the Isle of Portland, England
• the Rubicon, the point of no return — Rubicon (or Rubico), Latin name for a small river in northern Italy
• Rhode Island Red — Chicken named after Rhode Island
• Rugby football — Rugby School, in Rugby, Warwickshire, central England
• Shambhala
• Shanghaied — drugged and forced into service aboard a ship, from Shanghai, China.
• Siamese twins, conjoined twins — Siam, old name for Thailand
• Siberia, a remote undesirable location — Siberia, in eastern Russia
• Skid Row, originally Skid Road of Seattle, now the rundown area of a U.S. city
• Sodomy, forbidden sexual acts — Sodom, Biblical town on the plain of the Jordan River
• Solecism, incorrect or ungrammatical usage of language — Soli an ancient city in Cilicia, where a dialect of Greek regarded as substandard was spoken.
• Spa, place having water with health-giving properties — Spa, a municipality in Belgium
• Suede, a durable fabric — French name for Sweden
• Surrey, horse-drawn carriage — Surrey, southern England
• Timbuktu, metaphor for an exotic, distant land — Timbuktu, city on the Niger River in Mali, West Africa
• Trojan horse, malicious computer virus — Trojan Horse, of Troy, from the Iliad
• tuxedo, after Tuxedo Park, New York
• volcano, from Italian island of Vulcano
• Xanadu, a symbol of opulence — Xanadu (or Shangdu), summer capital of Kublai Khan's empire
• Zion