proper noun · femininefirst declension
Hispānia
Hispānia f sg (genitive Hispāniae)
Classical[hɪsˈpaː.ni.a]Ecclesiastical[isˈpaː.ni.a]
Meaning
- Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula, a peninsula and historical region of Southern Europe covering modern-day Spain, Portugal and Andorra, when under the control of Ancient Rome; split into between two and five Roman provinces, depending on the time period)
Eadem aestate in Hispania coortum ingens bellum conciente Ilergete Indibili nulla alia de causa quam per admirationem Scipionis contemptu imperatorum aliorum orto: eum superesse unum ducem Romanis ceteris ab Hannibale interfectis.
During this summer an extensive war broke out in Spain at the instigation of Indibilis, whose sole motive was his intense admiration for Scipio which made him think lightly of other commanders. The people looked upon him as the only general the Romans had left to them, all the others having been killed by Hannibal.27 BCE – 25 BCE, Titus Livius, Ab urbe condita XXIX.1 - New LatinSpain (a country in Southern Europe, including most of the Iberian peninsula)
In the readers how our graded readers gloss it
Spain
Hispānia -ae — in Viri Romae Facillimi, ch. 11
Declension
| form | singular | plural |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | Hispānia | — |
| genitive | Hispāniae Spāniae | — |
| dative | Hispāniae Spāniae | — |
| accusative | Hispāniam Spāniam | — |
| ablative | Hispāniā | — |
| vocative | Hispānia | — |
Origins
Traditionally thought to derive from a Phoenician/Punic name *𐤀𐤉𐤔𐤐𐤍 (*ʾyšpn /*ʔī šap̄ān/, literally “island of the hyrax”), with elements equivalent to Hebrew אִי (ʔī, “island”) and שָׁפָן (šap̄ā́n, “hyrax”), where the Phoenicians would have thought the land's many rabbits to resemble hyraxes. This theory had some currency among Roman authors, and may explain why Hispania is depicted with rabbits on some Roman coins. But later scholars have sometimes doubted this interpretation and proposed other possible Phoenician etyma, like *𐤀𐤉 𐤑𐤐𐤍 (*ʾy ṣpn /*ʔī ṣappūn/, literally “island of the north”).
Descendants
- CatalanEspanya
- ItalianSpagna
- OccitanEspanha
- PortugueseEspanhafrom Old Galician-Portuguese Espanha
- SpanishEspañafrom Old Spanish Espanna
- RomanianSpania
- SardinianIspagna
- CatalanHispània
- GermanHispanien
- GermanSpanienfrom Old High German Spānia