Benghazi

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A large coastal city in northeastern Libya on the Mediterranean, the second largest city in the country ; a port city and historic center of Cyrenaica in that region
2. A major Libyan port on the Gulf of Sidra in the northeast of the country ; a sizable urban center in Cyrenaica known for its ancient and modern history
3. The principal city of eastern Libya sitting on the Mediterranean coast ; a seaport that has long been an important commercial and cultural hub

Etymology: Benghazi began as a harbour name, and its first recorded form was a phrase meaning "port of the son of Ghazi." A 1579 map by the Ali al-Sharfi attests the Arabic "marsa Bani Ghazi," literally "port of ibn Ghazi." The name is the Arabic "ibn ghazi," which translates as "son of the ghazi," where a ghazi is a warrior who fights for the faith. The name passed into Ottoman Turkish as "Bingâzi" and from there into the Arabic "binghāzī" that the city bears today. The identity of the ibn Ghazi behind the name is uncertain. One suggestion is a Muslim holy man, Sidi ibn Ghazi, though the link is not firmly established. The name thus reflects a religious or heroic figure from the city's early history, but the exact person has not been identified.