Sameland
/ˈsɑːmiˌlænd/noun
A historical English name for the traditional homeland of the Sámi people in northern Scandinavia and adjacent parts of Russia.
Did you know?Sameland is an English exonym: the Sámi generally call their homeland Sápmi, while “Sameland” reflects an outsider’s translation of the ethnonym plus “land.”
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Samic
Proto-Samic
*sāmē
“Reconstructed ancestral form behind the ethnonym Sámi; its deeper origin remains disputed.”
Medieval Scandinavia
Old Norse
Finnr
“A traditional Norse name for the Sámi, also reflected in the historical term Finnmark.”
16th–18th Centuries
Swedish/Danish-Norwegian
Same / Lapp
“European forms used for the Sámi; “Lapp” is now widely avoided because of its derogatory history.”
Old English
Old English
land
“Ground, territory, or country; descended from Proto-Germanic *landą.”
19th Century
English
Sameland
“A descriptive English compound meaning the land or territory of the Sámi.”
Modern English
English
Sameland
“A historical or geographic label for the Sámi homeland, more commonly called Sápmi today.”