Navarrese

Part of speech: noun, adjective

Definitions

1. Of or relating to Navarre, a historical kingdom and region straddling northern Spain and southwestern France, or to someone born there
2. Describing a person, people, or thing originating from or associated with the Navarre region in the Pyrenees
3. Belonging to or coming from Navarre, the Pyrenean territory whose inhabitants are known by this name

Etymology: The name comes from Navarre, the medieval kingdom straddling the Pyrenees between modern Spain and France. Its own origin is uncertain. Some scholars link it to a Basque word for a flat, open area, but the evidence is debated. The ending is the familiar "-ese," which English took from Italian, where it marks the inhabitants or language of a place, as in "Milanese" or "Portuguese." The word is therefore a demonym built on a place name, not a Latin or Greek coinage. It describes a person from Navarre, or something belonging to that region, such as its language, customs, or dress. Because Navarre was once a sovereign kingdom with its own royal line, the term carries a historical sense as well as a geographic one.