Regarding today's word, Gibraltar, Anu calls it a toponym; a friend says it's an eponym. The word is derived from Al-Gibar(sp?), the Moor who invaded the Iberian peninsula through that narrowest of passages between Africa and Spain.
Which do you-all say it is?

I was going to ask something along those lines myself...I'd been thinking that Gibraltar itself must have been named after something/someone...

OK, I know about Gibraltar. It is named for Jebal al Tariq, a Berber general
who crossed from Africa into Southern Spain in 711 during the expansion of Islam
under the Umayyad Caliphate.

Which do you-all say it is?

Me-all says (and I left my copy of the WAD at home) that the name of the place is an eponym (well sort of, there seems to be some question as to whether it comes from Gebel-Tarik meaning "the mountain of Tarik" or Jabbar-altar "Jabbar's heights". Either way it's got eponymic tendencies) but if it's used to mean "any strong fortress" it's a toponym.

Gibraltar the place is an eponym but its use in the word of the day makes it a toponym since the stronghold reference doesn't apply to the person but to the place.

Paris was named after the (Greek) hero but I doubt that something Parisien(ne) refers to him but rather to the city itself so Parisien(ne) to describe chic would also be a toponym.

Isn't that the same thing?

Usually derived from Tariq the general, and jabal 'mountain' (= jebel, gebel etc.). The Arabic word order is Jabal Tariq 'Mountain of Tariq'.

Jabbar-altar looks dubious. What language is it supposed to be? Now alt- is Romance for 'high', and gives 'altar', Latin altare, but putting the possessor in front is not Romance; nor Arabic.

Jabbar-altar looks dubious.

It's supposed to be Latin according to the site I got it from. I find it somewhat suspect myself. Its main claim to fame seems to be that you don't have to bend it so much to get Gibraltar. I just included it for S&Gs.

...derived from Al-Gibar... the Moor who invaded the Iberian peninsula...

..I thought he was the guy for whom they named "X = ?" and all that subsequent math...

It could, in theory, be Gothic, but Gothic was pretty much a dead language in Spain by about 550CE at the latest, so I can't see it being used for a toponym; in fact, I don't think that there are any Gothic toponyms in Spain.

Who would "Jabbar" be? That's certainly neither Latin nor Germanic.

Who would "Jabbar" be?

According to the site I got the Jabbar-altar WAG from it means "mighty". I guess it would be a sobriquet.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aframjews/message/363

Gawd almighty, you lot of high'n mighty wordaphiles! Doncha know that it refers to Jabbar the Hutt?

It appears that George Lucas named Britain's last (and failing) colonial outpost!

yer just plain wrong, CK -- it was named for that Muslim mountain of a man Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.