Bacatá
/bakaˈta/noun
Bacatá was the historical Muisca name of the settlement and territory from which Bogotá developed.
Did you know?Spanish colonists recorded Bacatá in the 16th century, and the modern name Bogotá developed from Spanish renderings of this Muisca name.
Etymological Timeline
Pre-Colonial Era
Muysccubun
Bacatá
“Historical Muisca place-name for the settlement and surrounding territory in the Bogotá savanna; its precise literal meaning is uncertain.”
16th Century
Spanish
Bogotá / Bacatá
“Spanish colonial records rendered the Indigenous name in several forms.”
16th Century
Spanish
Bogotá
“The Spanish form became the name used for the colonial settlement founded near the original Muisca center.”
19th Century
Spanish
Bogotá
“Bogotá became the established name of the capital of independent Colombia.”
Modern English
English
Bacatá
“A historical and cultural name referring to the pre-colonial Muisca settlement associated with present-day Bogotá.”
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