Sudan
/suːˈdɑːn/noun
A country in northeastern Africa.
Did you know?The name comes from Arabic al-Sūdān, “the Blacks,” a broad medieval term for the regions south of the Sahara rather than a name originally created for one country.
Etymological Timeline
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
bilād al-sūdān
“The lands of the Black peoples; a broad geographical term for sub-Saharan Africa”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
sūdān
“Black people or Black peoples; the broken plural of aswad, “black””
10th–14th Century
Arabic
al-Sūdān
“A regional designation for territories south of the Sahara”
17th–19th Century
European languages
Soudan / Sudan
“European forms adopted from Arabic geographical usage”
20th Century
English
Sudan
“The modern country name, officially used after independence in 1956”