Re: Meaning of the name Andalusia?
in reply to a message by Lu
I don't know if this will help, but the Latin name for Portugal is Lusitania (like that ship that went down in the First WorldWar). The Romans would have used the name of the first or largest tribe they met there, and generalised from it for the whole region. I'd be prepared to bet that the last bit of Andalusia is also related, so it would be pre-Latin, possibly not even Indo-European (we mustn't overlook the Basques), and therefore nothing to do with light. No bright ideas about Anda - sorry!