Singapore

About Place

The English name of “Singapore” is an anglicisation of the native Malay name for the country, Singapura, which was in turn derived from the Sanskrit word for “lion city” (romanised: Siṃhapura; Brahmi: 𑀲𑀺𑀁𑀳𑀧𑀼𑀭; literally “lion city”; siṃha means “lion”, pura means “city” or “fortress”).^[8] A Chinese account from the third century referred to a place as Pú Luó Zhōng , which sounds like Malay for “island at the end of a peninsula“.^[9] Early references to the name Temasek (or Tumasik) are found in the Nagarakretagama, a Javanese epic poem written in 1365, and a Vietnamese source from the same time period. The name possibly means “Sea Town”, being derived from the Malay tasek, meaning “sea” or “lake”.^[10] The Chinese traveller Wang Dayuan visited a place around 1330 named Danmaxi (Chinese:; pinyin: Dànmǎxí; Wade–Giles: Tan Ma Hsi) or Tam ma siak, depending on pronunciation. Danmaxi may be a transcription of Temasek (Tumasik), alternatively, it may be a combination of the Malay Tanah meaning “land”, and Chinese Xi meaning “tin”, which was traded on the island.^[11]^[10]