Belgrade

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capital and largest city of Serbia, situated where the Sava and Danube rivers meet in southeastern Europe
2. A major city in southeastern Europe that serves as the political and cultural centre of the Republic of Serbia
3. The Serbian capital, a historic riverside city on the Danube that has long been a center of government and commerce

Etymology: Belgrade is the name of a real city, the capital of Serbia, and the English word simply borrows the French form of the name. That French form came from Medieval Latin "Belgradum" and "Belogradum", which were Latinised versions of the city's South Slavic name. The Slavic elements are "bělŭ", meaning white, and "gordŭ", meaning fortress or city. The name refers to the pale walls of the medieval fortress that stood on the high ground where the Sava and Danube rivers meet. The same two Slavic building blocks produced several other place names across the region. "Beograd" is the Serbian and Croatian spelling of the city's name, "Berat" is a town in Albania, and "Belgorod" is a Russian city name. Because all these names descend from the same roots, they are doublets of one another, each shaped by a different language's sound patterns.