New Zealand
/ˌnjuː ˈziː.lənd/noun
A country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean comprising two main islands and numerous smaller islands.
Did you know?The name was not coined by Māori: Dutch cartographers named it after Zeeland, a low-lying province whose name means “sea-land.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
Germanic
*saiwiz
“Sea; a large body of salt water”
12th Century
Dutch
Zeeland
“Sea-land; the southwestern Dutch province made up of coastal islands and reclaimed land”
1642
Latin
Nova Zeelandia
“New Zeeland; the name used by Dutch cartographers after Abel Tasman’s voyage”
17th Century
Dutch
Nieuw Zeeland
“New Zeeland; the Dutch form of the geographic name”
18th Century
English
New Zealand
“The established English form of the country’s name”
Modern English
English
New Zealand
“An independent country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean”