Lake Malawi
/ˌleɪk məˈlɑːwi/noun
A large freshwater lake in East Africa, bordered by Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania.
Did you know?The lake was long called Lake Nyasa, a name derived from a local word meaning “lake,” while “Malawi” comes from the historic Maravi name associated with the region.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Indo-European
PIE
*lókus
“A pool, lake, or enclosed body of water; the reconstructed ancestor of several water-related words.”
Classical Latin
Latin
lacus
“A lake, basin, or reservoir.”
Old English
Old English
lac
“A stream, pool, or lake, borrowed through Germanic contact with Latin.”
Middle English
English
lake
“A body of inland water; the modern form developed from Old English and related French usage.”
16th–19th Centuries
Yao/Regional usage
nyasa
““Lake,” a local term used in the earlier European name Lake Nyasa.”
16th–19th Centuries
Maravi languages
Maravi/Malawi
“The name of the historic Maravi polity and region; the exact original sense is debated, with “flames” or “reflected light” proposed in some accounts.”
Modern English
English
Lake Malawi
“The modern geographic name adopted for the lake, replacing the colonial-era name Lake Nyasa in common official usage.”