1821: 'Istanbul' and the Byzantines Dec 10, 2019

Considering that 'Constantinople' was the name of the city under the Greeks, and that it was renamed 'Istanbul' under the Ottoman Turks, you'd be forgiven for thinking the name is Turkish, but this isn't so. The city's name has changed considerably throughout history, including 'Byzantium', 'Byzantion', 'New Rome' (Nea Roma), ‘Constantinople’ and now ‘Istanbul’. 'Istanbul' actually comes from Byzantine Greek 'eis tēn Pólin' (εἰς τὴν Πόλιν) meaning 'to the City', which was simply a colloquialism for Constantinople by the locals in the Byzantine Empire. 'Byzantion' is also Greek, originally from the personal name 'Byzas', who founded the city.

Support Word Facts on Patreon.com/wordfacts