Liban
/li.bɑ̃/noun
The French name for Lebanon, a country on the eastern Mediterranean coast.
Did you know?The name is linked to the Semitic root *l-b-n*, meaning “white,” possibly referring to Lebanon’s snow-capped mountains or pale limestone landscape.
Etymological Timeline
Late Bronze Age
Ugaritic
𐎍𐎁𐎐𐎐 (Lbn[n])
“Lebanon; traditionally associated with whiteness”
1st Millennium BCE
Hebrew
לְבָנוֹן (Levanon)
“Lebanon, the mountainous land named with a root meaning “white””
Ancient Greek
Greek
Λίβανος (Libanos)
“Mount Lebanon or the Lebanon region”
Classical Antiquity
Latin
Libanus
“Mount Lebanon”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
لُبْنَان (Lubnān)
“Lebanon”
Modern French
French
Liban
“Lebanon”