# word origin of hispanic or hispania **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 27, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440 "2004-10-27T13:55:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/1 "2004-10-27T13:55:28Z")
I know Hispanic means “from Hispania,” but what is the origin of hispania? or espana (imagine the ~ thing in there over the n, how is that done 😕 )? I was once told by a friend from Honduras that it came from a latin word or description the Romans gave people they saw in Iberia that meant “hairless” because the men (and probably women) had less body hair than the Romans. Is this possibly correct? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/2 "2004-10-27T14:16:04Z")
There was a Greek (or possibly Phoenician) colony there named Hispalis (modern day Seville). When the Romans took over the Iberian peninsula and made it into provinces, they named them “Hispania” after the city. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/3 "2004-10-27T16:05:15Z")
For the character ñ hold down the Alt key and type in 164 on the number pad. ALT+164 creates the ñ. ALT+165 creates a capital Ñ. [Special font characters](http://www.1728.com/altchar.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/4 "2004-10-27T16:09:25Z")
There’s some speculation that it ultimately derives from some ancient word meaning “Land of rabbits.” [http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm](http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm) Can’t vouch for the accuracy, though. ---
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/5 "2004-10-27T16:33:26Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > There’s some speculation that it ultimately derives from some ancient word meaning “Land of rabbits.” > > [http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm](http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm) > > Can’t vouch for the accuracy, though. Yeah, but where does “sñake hips” come from? ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/6 "2004-10-27T17:18:05Z")
> [@Earl Snake-Hips Tucker](#): > > There’s some speculation that it ultimately derives from some ancient word meaning “Land of rabbits.” > > [http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm](http://www.studyglobal.net/countryspain.htm) > > Can’t vouch for the accuracy, though. Yeah, I’ve read that a number of places; I believe the word was Phoenician in origin. I assume they chose it because Spain has very few rabbits. Well, I never saw any over there. Most of it’s dry enough that I don’t think they have a lot of rabbits. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/7 "2004-10-27T18:13:42Z")
And how many Phoenicians did you run into?😃 ---
**Author:** ![Merkwurdigliebe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/74df32/32.png) [@Merkwurdigliebe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Merkwurdigliebe)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/8 "2004-10-27T18:19:26Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Yeah, I’ve read that a number of places; I believe the word was Phoenician in origin. I assume they chose it because Spain has very few rabbits. > > Well, I never saw any over there. Most of it’s dry enough that I don’t think they have a lot of rabbits. I never saw any rabbits over there either, but they sure do eat lots of rabbit. Well… you can buy it in the supermarket like chicken here. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/9 "2004-10-27T18:36:04Z")
España, as noted, comes from Hispania, the Roman name for Spain, as does the English word Spain and the adjective and noun Hispanic. Hispanic, in turn, seems to derive from the Phoenician, later Greek, colony of Hispalis, which is modern Seville (via the Moorish Ishbiliya). I couldn’t get an etymologic derivation for Hispalis, though. Interestingly, Seville gave rise to one of the early punning rebuses (precursors of Leetish): > [@](#): > > The motto of Seville is “NO8DO”. The “8” is shaped like a wool hank, in Spanish _madeja_. This makes the motto, as a rebus read _“NO madeja DO”_ which is a pun on _“no me ha dejado”_ = “she did not abandon me”. This refers to the city’s support for King Alphonse X in the war with his son Don Sancho in the 13th century. This motto is seen throughout Seville, inscribed on manhole covers. > (From [encyclopedia.freedictionary.com](http://encyclopedia.freedictionary.com)) ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2004, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/word-origin-of-hispanic-or-hispania/271440/10 "2004-10-27T23:21:16Z")
> [@Merkwurdigliebe](#): > > I never saw any rabbits over there either, but they sure do eat lots of rabbit. Well… you can buy it in the supermarket like chicken here. Oh, that’s true. They love eating rabbits. I guess you don’t see them because they ate them all.