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Help[Facts] Re: Chimene - the name.
in reply to a message by Chimene
My name is Chimene. Word origins are very interesting. Chimene is the French translation of Dona Jimena/Ximena the wife of El Cid ( Sayyid in Arabic), she ruled part of Basque territory around Valencia ( Vascon Region) after his death in the 11th century. Basque people are generally of Spanish, Arabic, and French and Northern European ( Norse, Gaelic) descent ( see history). In Arabic it means “mark of beauty”; in Spanish “listening intently” or “heard” depending. The French word for furnace ( chimenee) also are basque (iron works ) probably There is also reference to Chimene in northern Dutch see the male version of the name Semen ( see Jimeno, Ximeno). Originally from Aquitaine and Rome ( like 600, which might lead to Greek. It’s a long and windy road the etymology of anything.
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Valencia isn't in the Basque region, it's the other side of the country. Basque people have inhabited Northern Spain and western France since time immemorial,and the Basque language is the lone surviving "pre-European" language in Europe. There's no such things as a "pure" population group, so there will be Celtiberian, Frankish, Gallic, Italian, Suebian, Gothic, Vandal, Alan, Arabic and Moorish contributors (only in small amounts though). French chimenee (English chimney) is from Latin caminus, from Ancient Greek κάμῑνος (kámīnos, “furnace”), nothing to do with Basque. Some connect the earlier masculine Ximeno (modern spelling Jimeno) to the Basque personal name Semen, from seme (“son”), others to a Spanish version of Simon a common Ancient Greek name (probably dating from before Hellenic settlers arrived and possibly meaning "snub-nosed") which was later used as a Greek counterpart/translation of the Hebrew שמעון (šimʿōn, “hearkening”). Quite probably both the Basque and biblical Greek names contributed to its use in Spain.
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