Nava de Ordunte
BurgosCastilla y León
Compound. Nava (pre-Roman appellative 'plain between mountains') plus de Ordunte, eponymous range of disputed Basque etymology.
Evolution of the name
- naba + Ordunte pre-Roman Basque before the 10th century
- Nava de Ordunte medieval Castilian from the 12th century
Reflections, to the letter
To grasp the name you need only look around: a nava is the flat hollow wedged between mountains, and here the walker treads the whole of it. The hamlet stretches across level ground beside the Cadagua, the Ordunte range closing it to the north and the heights of La Peña to the south. The pre-Roman word for that green basin still describes, without a syllable to spare, what lies in front of you.
Glossary
- Etymology
- The origin and history of a word and the phonetic and semantic changes it has undergone. An etymology may be confirmed, probable or disputed depending on documentary attestations and linguistic parallels.
- Ordunte Range
- Prepyrenean range on the limit between Burgos and Vizcaya, with maximum height at Mount Ordunte (1,426 m). It constitutes water divide between the Cantabrian (Cadagua basin) and the Ebro (Jerea basin). Its name, of disputed Basque etymology, is attested from the 10th century in cartularies of the San Salvador de Oña monastery.
- Pre-Roman
- Prior to the Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula (3rd century BC); applied to toponyms, linguistic roots and populations.
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