Do you know the original meaning of these countries' names?

Have you ever wondered where a name or word came from? Us too! We've traced the names of six Arab countries back in time to understand what they actually mean.

The origin of the name goes back to ancient times when Egyptians referred to their country as "Hwt-Ka-Ptah," meaning "House of the Ka of Ptah," Ptah being one of Egypt's earliest gods. The Greeks, when pronouncing this ancient name, changed the word to Aegyptus. The word appeared in Greeks' literature as the name of an Egyptian king, the Nile, and the country itself.

As for the Arabic name, Misr: it can be traced back to the ancient term Mizraim. Misr in Arabic means "country" and also comes from the Quran. The term also means "fortress," referring to the natural borders of Egypt used to protect from invaders.

Although the name has been in use since before the sixth century, there are several theories as to its origin. One of these theories locates the name to the Sumarian city of Uruk, which was mentioned in the Bible as Erech. Iraq means "shore," "bank," or "edge" and was used to delineate Mesopotamia between "Iraqi Arabi" (Arabian Iraq) and "Iraqi 'Ajami" (Foreign Iraq).

The name originates from the Semitic root "lbn," meaning "white," referring to the snow-capped Mount Lebanon. The name has appeared in different texts, including the Bible and the Epic of Gilgamesh, dating back to the third millenium BC.

"Morroco" derives from Spanish and Portuguese transliterations of the word "Marrakesh," the medieval Latin name for the Almoravid dynasty. In some countries, Marrakesh still remains the official name of Morocco.

In the second century AD, "Catara" appeared in the first known European map of the peninsula produced by Ptolemy. "Catara" was used until the 18th century but was replaced by "Katara" as the most common spelling. Later, the more modern "Qatar" was adopted as the country's official name.

One study assumes Yemen derives from al-yamin, meaning "on the right side," since the south is on the right when facing the sunrise. Another theory looks at Yemen as a derivative of yumn, meaning "felicity" as Romans used to call it Arabia Felix (Fruitful Arabia) due to its fertile ground.