Bucharest

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. The capital and largest city of Romania, located in the south of the country on the Dâmbovița River
2. A major Eastern European city that serves as the political and cultural center of Romania
3. The Romanian capital, a large urban center in the southern part of the country known for its historic architecture

Etymology: Bucharest takes its name from a person. According to the traditional Romanian account, the city is named after a shepherd or landowner called Bucur, and "-ești" is a suffix meaning "village or estate of" a family or founder, so the name roughly means "Bucur's place." The Romanian form București carries that patronymic structure directly, and it is the source of the English name. The English form came through Russian rather than Romanian. Russian "Бухарест" (Buxarést) is a borrowing of the Romanian name, and English took its spelling from that Russian intermediary. The result is a name where the Romanian original and the English version look quite different, with the "Buch-" spelling reflecting the Russian transliteration rather than a direct English adaptation.