Etymology
Its name is derived from the capital city Santo Domingo, which was named by Bartholomew Columbus on August 5, 1498 as La Nueva Isabela, Santo Domingo del Puerto de la Isla de la Española, named either or both after the sacred day Sunday (the Latin word Dominicus means "the Lord's (day)") and Saint Dominic, whose feast day is August 4.
The demonym or adjective is "Dominican" in English. The syllable stress is on the first "i" to distinguish it from same word used in reference to the Commonwealth of Dominica, in which case the stress is on the second "i".
Read more about this topic: Dominican Republic
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
—Stephen Bayley, British historian, art critic. “Taste: The Story of an Idea,” Taste: The Secret Meaning of Things, Random House (1991)
“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)