Kandahar

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A major city in southern Afghanists near the Arghandab River ; the capital of a province of the same name in that region
2. An important urban centre in the south of Afghanistan ; the surrounding administrative region that bears the same name
3. A historic city in southern Afghanistan known for its agriculture and trade ; a province of Afghanistan named after this city

Etymology: Kandahar is named after Alexander the Great, though the link runs through a long chain of languages. The city was founded as Alexandria Arachosia, and its Greek name "Alexándreia" passed down through the region's languages until Pashto turned it into "Kandahār." The Pashto form is the one still used today, and English took the name directly from it. The name is a doublet of several other place names that share the same Greek origin. "Alexandria" in Egypt, "Alexandretta" (now Iskenderun in Turkey), and "Scandaroon," an older English name for the Turkish port, all descend from the same ancient word. Each one took a different path through Latin, Italian, Turkish, or Persian, so a single Greek name ended up scattered across the eastern Mediterranean and Central Asia in several forms.