Iraq

Meaning

Proper Noun

• A country in the region, Middle East and region, Western Asia that borders on Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria{{, and Turkey, having <> as its capital|modern=Republic of Iraq }}.
• An expansive historical region of medieval Western Asia, including not only the modern territories of Iraq but also large parts of western Iran (the so-called Persian Iraq).

Origin

• Borrowed from Arabic الْعِرَاق ("Iraq"), of uncertain derivation. Medieval Arabic uses ‘Iraq’ as a geographical term for the area in the south and center of the modern Iraq. Some Arabic sources say that Iraq comes from عَرِيق, from عِرْق, while others say it is from Middle Persian's , due to historic rule from Iraq's plateau-situated neighbor, Persia.