# What does "Egypt" mean?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [March 3, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720 "2014-03-03T01:23:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720/1 "2014-03-03T01:23:30Z")

</div>

What does the name of the country mean? And what language is it from?

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720/2 "2014-03-03T01:32:37Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Old English Egipte, from French Egypte, from Greek Aigyptos “the river Nile, Egypt,” from Amarna Hikuptah, corresponding to Egyptian Ha(t)-ka-ptah “temple of the soul of Ptah,” the creative god associated with Memphis, the ancient city of Egypt.
> 
> Strictly one of the names of Memphis, it was taken by the Greeks as the name of the whole country. The Egyptian name, Kemet, means “black country,” possibly in reference to the rich delta soil. The Arabic is Misr, which is derived from Mizraim, the name of a son of Biblical Ham.

[Etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=Egypt)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![sweepkick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/87869e/32.png) [@sweepkick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sweepkick)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720/3 "2014-03-03T01:46:37Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> Strabo attributed the word to a folk etymology in which Aígyptos (Αἴγυπτος) evolved as a compound from Aigaiou huptiōs (Aἰγαίου ὑπτίως), meaning “below the Aegean”.

> **[Egypt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egypt#Names)**
>
> Egypt (Arabic: مصر Miṣr \[mesˁr\] ⓘ, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Egyptian Arabic pronunciation: \[mɑsˤr\]), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in the southwest corner of Asia. It is bordered by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Gaza Strip of Pa...

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![fighting\_ignorant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ac8455/32.png) [@fighting\_ignorant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fighting_ignorant)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720/4 "2014-03-03T02:14:10Z")

</div>

> [@](#):
>
> The Arabic is Misr, which is derived from Mizraim, the name of a son of Biblical Ham.

MMMMM… Biblical Ham… mmmmmmm

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Carl\_Pham](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e9a140/32.png) [@Carl\_Pham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Carl_Pham)\
**Post date:** [March 3, 2014, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-egypt-mean/682720/5 "2014-03-03T02:18:01Z")

</div>

OT, but the Egyptian name for Egypt is the origin of the Arabic word al-khmi (more or less “arts of the Black Land”) which became the Spanish alquimie, English alchemy and later “chemistry.” The phrase is first used in the West (so far as we know) in a proclamation Diocletian issued forbidding the practice, presumably associated with love potions, artful poisons, and assorted nostrums.