America

Forms

Amerī̆ca f (genitive Amerī̆cae); first declension^[1]

Etymology

It is the feminine of Americus, the Latinized first name of the Italian navigator Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512),^[1][2] from Italian Amerigo.^[1] Wiktionary adds that the Italian name goes back to a Germanic personal name.^[1] Etymonline points out that his first name was easier to Latinize than his surname, Latin ⟨Vesputius⟩.^[2] The feminine form matched the names of the other continents, Asia, Africa and Europa.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The name first appears in 1507 in the Cosmographiae Introductio, which Etymonline calls the work of the cartographer Martin Waldseemüller and which Wiktionary says was apparently written by Matthias Ringmann; there it referred to South America.^[2][1] The same text has a related form meaning “land of Amerigo”, built on the Greek word for earth.^[1]

Semantic evolution

In 1538 Mercator applied it to both North and South America.^[1] In New Latin it names the Americas as a whole.^[1] English America was taken from it, and the name spread from European languages to many others.^[1][2]

Timeline

• 1507 – The Cosmographiae Introductio names South America after Amerigo Vespucci.^[2][1]
• 1538 – Mercator uses it for both North and South America.^[1]

Meanings

Proper noun

1. (New Latin) America, the Americas, the New World; at first South America only.^[1][2]

Related words

• English America

Usage notes

Wiktionary marks the second ⟨i⟩ as either long or short.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com