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meaning of andalusia
The name refers to the Vandals who established the first kingdom in this region of Iberia. The name Vandal comes from the German word "wandeln", which means 'wandering' or 'walking around', from which the Spanish word is probably derived. The lusia part refers to the mythological hero Lusus, whose companions were the Lusiades. This mythology was adopted by the Portuguese when they formed their nation (cf. Os Lusiados by the poet Camoens) and is reflected in the name Lusitania for the region. The medieval ancestors of the Portuguese were the Suevi, who came to Iberia with the Vandals. The name Andalusia is of course also found in north-western Africa, as the Vandals abandoned Iberia after c. AD 430 and conquered the Roman colonies - hence Al-Andalus occurs in Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia as well as Spain.
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Hi !!!I read another variant.Andalusia came from Al-Andalus.Al- is the Arabic article because the real name was "bilād al-landahlautsiyya". Bilad al-.. means "land of.." and the -iyya end is the normal form of Arabic adjective of the place of origin (this is grammatically called nisba).So "land of landahlauts"..
landahlauts in the Goth language mean "lots, parcels" (the parcels given to noble Visigoths).Finally Andalusia could mean "land where noble Visigoths resides".

This message was edited 3/23/2017, 8:06 AM

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