What is the meaning of the word "Canada"?

Answer 1

The word Canada, comes from the Iroquois Indians and means settlement or village.

Answer 2

Word History: Linguistically, mountains can be made out of molehills, so to speak: words denoting a small thing can, over time, come to denote something much larger. This is the case with Canada, now the name of the second-largest country in the world but having a much humbler origin. Apparently its history starts with the word kanata, which in Huron (an Iroquoian language of eastern Canada) meant "village." Jacques Cartier, the early French explorer, picked up the word and used it to refer to the land around his settlement, now part of Quebec City. By the 18th century it referred to all of New France, which extended from the St. Lawrence River to the Great Lakes and down into what is now the American Midwest. In 1759, the British conquered New France and used the name Quebec for the colony north of the St. Lawrence River, and Canada for the rest of the territory. Eventually, as the territory increased in size and the present arrangement of the provinces developed, Canada applied to all the land north of the United States and east of Alaska.

Answer 3

Canada is -

A country of northern North America. Originally inhabited by various Native American peoples, mainland Canada was explored by the English and the French beginning in the late 15th century. The French established the first permanent settlement at Port Royal (now Annapolis Royal) in 1605 but gradually lost control of eastern Canada, which was ceded to England in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. The Dominion of Canada was formed in 1867 and extended to the western provinces in 1905; Newfoundland formally joined the federation in 1949. The Statute of Westminster (1931) confirmed Canada's status as an independent nation within the Commonwealth.

WORD HISTORY Linguistically, mountains can be made out of molehills, so to speak: words denoting a small thing can, over time, come to denote something much larger. This is the case with Canada, now the name of the second-largest country in the world but having a much humbler origin. Apparently its history starts with the word kanata, which in Huron (an Iroquoian language of eastern Canada) meant “village.”


And I know this 'cause I am a Canadian.

Answer 4

A number of theories have been proposed in explaning the derivation of the name 'Canada'. In 1698, Father Louis Hennepin first recorded the similarity of the Spanish 'aca nada', meaning 'here, nothing'. This refers to the derisive name applied to the region by the Spanish who had found no gold or riches in Canada. This is also similar to the Portuguese 'cà nada', also meaning 'here, nothing'.

The most commonly accepted version, however, derives from explorer Jacques Cartier in his writings in 1536. In the company of Taignoagny and Domagaya, sons of Iroquoian Chief Donnacona, Cartier was returning to Canada after having taken to boys to France as proof of the New World. As they approached the Gulf of St. Lawrence, the boys eagerly announced, "That's the way to Canada", referring to their 'kanata' (village) Stadacona (present-day Quebec City). Cartier learned that Chief Donnacona's territory extended over a number of 'kanatas' 50 kilometres beyond Stadacona.

In his journals, Cartier appended a list of local Iroquoian words, noting particularly that 'kanata' meant 'town' and that the lands ruled by Donnacona incorporated a series of 'kanatas'. André Thever, a contemporary explorer of Cartier, expanded this idea to mean that 'kanata' meant all the lands ruled by Donnacona instead of the individual villages.

With few exceptions, maps made in France following Cartier's 1536 expedition indicated Canada as being the vast territory north of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

It seems, then, that Canada was named after the Iroquoian word for 'village'.

Answer 5

Canada is the biggest country in North America.

Answer 6

From what I recall, Canada is a Native American word (can’t remember which language) for “small village”

I may be wrong though.

Answer 7

It is a German wordplay / Canada sounds like :
"Keiner da !" = No one's there... That's a good one.


Aaron.