Name of Austria

The name Austria comes from old German words meaning "eastern realm." It was first used in a document from the year 996 for a borderland area that was part of the Duchy of Bavaria. Over time, this area grew and became more important.

In Latin, the name was called Marchia Orientalis, meaning "eastern borderland." Later, the shorter name Austria started being used in the 12th century. Even though it means "east," some people got confused because it sounds like the word for "south."

As the land grew, it became a duchy in the 12th century, then an archduchy in 1453, and finally claimed to be an empire in 1804. It kept both the German name Österreich and the Latin name Austria.

Today, the country is called the Republic of Austria, a name that came into use in 1955 after an important treaty.

German name

The name Österreich for Austria comes from an old German word, Ostarrîchi. This word means "eastern realm" and was first used in a special document from the year 996. It described a small area that is now part of Austria.

The word Ostarrîchi is thought to be related to the Latin name Marchia orientalis, which also means "eastern borderland." Over time, this name became the official name for the country we know today as Austria. Some historians believe the name might have even older roots, possibly from ancient Celtic or Slavic languages, but this idea is not widely accepted by language experts.

Latin name

The first written mention of the name Austria is found in the work Historia Langobardorum by Paolo Diacono and dates back to 796.

The name Austria is a Latin version of the German word Österreich. This Latin version was made to help Latin speakers say the German name. Because of this, people sometimes get confused. In German, Ost means "east", but in Latin, auster means "south". This is why the name Austria sounds similar to Australia, which comes from the Latin words Terra Australis meaning "southern land".

The name appears as Austrie marchionibus (Margrave of Austria) in a document from 1147. Later, in 1156, it is called marchiam Austriae (March of Austria) and Austriae ducatum (Duchy of Austria). People in English have used the name "Austria" since the early 1600s.

Other languages

Derivations from Österreich

Many languages have names for Austria that come from the German word Österreich. For example, in Afrikaans it is Oostenryk, in Danish it is Østrig, and in Dutch it is Oostenrijk. Other languages like Finnish use a version that means "eastern state". Most other languages, such as Hungarian, Italian, and Spanish, use a name like "Austria" or a version that sounds similar.

Derivations from Slavic němьci

Arabic calls Austria an-Nimsā, a name borrowed from the Slavic word for "Germans". This name spread to many places, including Turkey. Persian originally used a similar name but now uses Otrish, which comes from the French way of saying Austria.

Rakousko, Rakúsko

The Czech and Slovak names for Austria, Rakousko and Rakúsko, come from an old castle near the border. There are other ideas about where these names came from, linking them to an old area called Carantania.