# Almirida, Almyrida



## Margrave

Hi!  In Crete there is the beach of  Almirida/Alymrida ( Αλμυρίδα ). I wonder what is the meaning of this toponymy. Any advice is welcome. 

Rgs

MG


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## Acestor

The older form of the word,  _ἁλμυρίς_, in fact means 'salt land'. I think that's the simplest explanation for it.


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## Margrave

Thank you. I could find άλας (salt), which could relate to  _ἁλ_ but not able to find the radical for μυρίς, which should mean "land".


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## Acestor

In fact, it’s ἅλς > ἅλμη (sea water, brine) > ἁλμ-υρός (salt, briny) > ἁλμυρίς.


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## ioanell

Margrave said:


> not able to find the radical root for μυρίς, which should mean "land"



_μυρίς _does not exist neither as a word nor as a root, and therefore has no connection with “land”, but the word *ἁλμυρίς*, as Acestor explained the derivation (*ἅλ*ς n. (sea)> *ἅλμ*η n.(sea water, brine) > *ἁλμ*υρός adj.(salty, briny) > *ἁλμ*υρίς adj.), is in fact a feminine adjective (coming from ἁλμ-υρά, the feminine of ἁλμ-υρός) which defined the word χώρα as *ἁλμυρίς χώρα* (=salty land), until sometime in the past the noun _χώρα_ was omitted in the everyday use and the adjective _ἁλμυρίς_ was nominalized and continued its life as a toponym of the place. The modern toponym is the accusative case αλμυρίδα of the ancient nominative case ἁλμυρίς.


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## Margrave

@ioanell, thank you very much for your detailed reply.


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## Bob the Geordie

ioanell said:


> _μυρίς _does not exist neither as a word nor as a root, and therefore has no connection with “land”, but the word *ἁλμυρίς*, as Acestor explained the derivation (*ἅλ*ς n. (sea)> *ἅλμ*η n.(sea water, brine) > *ἁλμ*υρός adj.(salty, briny) > *ἁλμ*υρίς adj.), is in fact a feminine adjective (coming from ἁλμ-υρά, the feminine of ἁλμ-υρός) which defined the word χώρα as *ἁλμυρίς χώρα* (=salty land), until sometime in the past the noun _χώρα_ was omitted in the everyday use and the adjective _ἁλμυρίς_ was nominalized and continued its life as a toponym of the place. The modern toponym is the accusative case αλμυρίδα of the ancient nominative case ἁλμυρίς.


Having lived about 3km from Almyrida for the last 23 years, I am grateful for the explanation!


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## Αγγελος

May I add that άλμη and αλμυρός (αλσο άρμη/αρμυρός) are perfectly normal modern Greek words as well, meaning 'brine' and 'salty' respectively, and that αρμυρίκια are a common tree or bush growing on beaches. See Αλμυρίκι: Το απόλυτο δέντρο του ελληνικού καλοκαιριού


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