Etymologie, Etimología, Étymologie, Etimologia, Etymology, (griech.) etymología, (lat.) etymologia, (esper.) etimologio
PS Palästina, Palestina, Palestine, Palestina, Palestine, (esper.) Palestino
Region, Región, Région, Regione, Region, (lat.) regio, (esper.) regionoj

Governorate
Gaza, la bande de Gaza, Gaza Strip
Nordgaza, Ghazzah, Dayr al-Balah, Khan Yunus (Khan Yunis), Rafah

Gaza
Gazastreifen
Bande de Gaza
Gaza Strip (W3)

• der Gazastreifen
• the Gaza Strip
• la bande de Gaza
• la Franja de Gaza

Gaza (Hebrew "'Azzah", "the strong")

A titular see of Palaestina Prima, in the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
...

Gaze (W3)

13. Gaze 18/05/2007

Etymologie "Gaze"

C'est très probablement "Gaza" ("Ghazza"), la ville de Palestine, qui a donné son nom à ce "tissu léger de soie, de lin ou de laine" (le Robert). En dehors de "gazzi", un mot italien qui signifie "petit babillard", les autres origines avancées pour "gaze" sont elles aussi arabe...

No. 54 From "DENIM" to "GAUZE"

Words from everywhere on our tongues

You've probably worn, or at least seen, some article of clothing made of a cloth called "JERSEY". And you may even have a "CASHMERE" sweater. Have you ever thought about where these names might come from? You may have thought there is some connection to the Channel Island called "Jersey", and noticed that the second sounds rather like the area to the north if India and Pakistan called "Kashmir". Guess what: in both cases you'd be right. In English we have an amazingly colorful variety of names for different kinds of fabrics, from dozens of languages. So we have every reason to conclude that the international trade in cloth has surely been thriving for a very long time.

Many a textile name perpetuates the name of a place where a type of cloth was first imported from. Sometimes, like "JERSEY" the place name is exactly the same, but others like "CASHMERE" preserve it somewhat disguised. Look at a few more:

"ASTRAKHAN" (A fabric with a curly pile using or imitating the soft, wavy wool of young lambs). - From the town of "Astrakhan" in southern Russia near the Caspian Sea.

"CALICO" (A coarse cloth usually printed in bright designs). - First made in "Calicut", an early trade center in India.

"CAMBRIC" (Finely woven white linen or cotton). - From the Flemish town of "Kamerijk", now "Cambrai" in northwestern France.

"CRETONNE" (A heavy cotton or linen, usually printed). - From "Creton", a town in the Normandy region of France.

"DAMASK" (A patterned fabric used for fine table linen). - From "Damascus", an ancient city in Syria.

"DENIM" (A sturdy familiar type of cloth). - From "Nimes" in France (the name preserves "de Nimes" "from Nimes").

By the way, even though "jeans" is not the name of a fabric, it fits in here too because the name is derived from "Genoa" in Italy.

"GAUZE" (A thin fabric with loose weave). - From "Gaza" on the Mediterranean, first imported from there by the French.

"LISLE" (A fabric knitted with a tightly-twisted cotton thread). - The name is an old spelling of the city now called "Lille" in northwestern France.

"MADRAS" (A fine-texture cotton cloth usually printed with a pattern). - Here we see the name of "Madras" in southern India preserved unchanged.

"MUSLIN" (A plain-weave cotton fabric mostly used for sheets). - The name had a circuitous route: Italian traders named it after the town of "Mosul" (in present-day Iraq) where they found it, the French took over the name and modified it, and we got it from them.

"ORGANDY" (A crisp fabric of cotton or silk). - The town named "Urgench" (in present-day Uzbekistan in Central Asia) was on the old silk route, an early market for Chinese silks.

"POPLIN" (A ribbed fabric used for clothing and upholstery). - From southern France, but the history of the word is a little more indirect than the others: its original Italian name was "papalino", in which we see the word "papa" "pope", because the cloth was first manufactured in the 14th-century papal town of Avignon.

"SHANTUNG" (A heavy wild-silk fabric with a rough surface). - From "Shantung" in China.

Curiously, dictionaries will give various explanations of the basic word "SILK" itself, showing that we're not sure where this word comes from.

"TULLE" (A fine starched net of silk). - Preserves the name of "Tulle" in central France.

"WORSTED" (Fabric made from a compactly twisted woolen yarn). - Here we see the name of present-day "Worstead" in England.

And then there are the names of kinds of cloth that, while they don't contain a place name, do preserve something about the look, feel or method of manufacture in a seemingly endless variety of languages (no derivations here, you can easily look them up if you're interested -

"brocade", "burlap", "canvas", "chenille", "chiffon", "chintz", "corduroy", "cotton", "crepe", "crinoline", "flannel", "gabardine", "gingham", "khaki", "linen", "mohair", "percale", "satin", "seersucker", "serge", "taffeta", "tweed", "twill", "velour", "velvet".

Thousands of years is a very long time for any trade to be carried on. We have solid evidence that the weaving of cloth (the new invention replacing the previous use of animal skins for clothing) was developed back in the "Neolithic" Age, probably as long as 10,000 years ago. There is also abundant evidence that the trade in this valuable new commodity began almost immediately, and the closer we get to modern times the more we see that it has been continuing uninterrupted ever since, with steadily increasing variety.

This is why you may well wonder whether we have ANY cloth names other than "wool" that are native English. Not many. As long as human culture has existed, humans have been passing around artifacts to each other and the names have usually gone with them. Cloth is a striking example, but it is only one of a great many areas of cultural contact throughout history.

Where trade leads the way, languages follow. There is no such thing as a completely isolated language. The idea of a 'pure' language 'strong' enough to resist taking words from other languages is nothing but a tenacious myth. All languages are constantly borrowing words from each other while they are borrowing objects and ideas. This process will always be an invariable, enriching aspect of any language's life.