Etymology
See also: Emmanuel PeláezThe name Cagayán de Oro can be traced back during the arrival of the Spanish Augustinian Recollect friars in 1622, the area around Himologan (now Huluga), was already known as "Cagayan". Early Spanish documents in the 16th century already referred to the place as "Cagayán". The area of Northern Mindanao, which included Cagayán de Oro, was granted as Encomienda to a certain Juan Griego on January 25, 1571.
It was Emmanuel Peláez who appended de Oro to Cagayán in recognition of the gold mining activities in the area, harking back to the Spanish colonization. Thus, the city's full name is a combination of the ancient Austronesian and Spanish languages that translates to "City of the River of Gold".
Read more about this topic: Cagayan De Oro
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“The universal principle of etymology in all languages: words are carried over from bodies and from the properties of bodies to express the things of the mind and spirit. The order of ideas must follow the order of things.”
—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)
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—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)