Palestina (Old English)

Where does "Palestina" come from?

The Old English name 'Palestina' traces its origins to the Latin 'Palaestīna', which designated the Roman province of Palestine[1][3]. This term was derived from the Ancient Greek 'Παλαιστίνη', a name used for the region of Philistia and its surrounding areas[1][2]. The ultimate root is found in the Hebrew 'פְּלֶשֶׁת', meaning 'Philistia' or the 'land of the Philistines'[1][5].

Open questions

• The Greek form may have been influenced by a desire to align the name with the Greek word for wrestler. [2]
• The derivation from Hebrew is sometimes compared to Egyptian and Akkadian forms, creating a complex web of potential cognates. [2] [4] [5]

Full etymology tree

• Palestina (Old English), 'Palestine'
  • inherited Palaestina (Latin), 'Palestine (a province of the Roman Empire in Levant, Asia)'
    • inherited Παλαιστίνη (Palaistínē) (Ancient Greek), 'Palestine, the Land of Israel, Syria Palaestina (a historical region of Western Asia)'

Ancestors

• Palaestina (Latin)
• Παλαιστίνη (Ancient Greek)

Sources

1. Palestina (Old English) - Wiktionary
2. Παλαιστίνη (Palaistínē) (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary
3. Palaestina (Latin) - Wiktionary
4. pwrꜣsꜣtj (Egyptian) - Wiktionary
5. פלשת (Hebrew) - Wiktionary
6. παλαιστής (Ancient Greek) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris