PORTUGAL

Did you know that "true orange" has a synonym—"Portuguese orange"? Given this, it should come as no surprise that in Ariane Chanturia’s dictionary, the Georgian word for orange is portokhali (ფორთოხ(ა)ლი).

Would you now agree that the Georgian name for orange is linked to Portugal, since, as we’ve just established, true oranges grow there? Let’s examine the word portokhali from the perspective of Georgian etymology:

ფორთოხ(ა)ლი (phortoh(a)li) = ფორე + თოხლი (phore + tohli)

We’ve encountered phore before—it refers to a variety of quince, as noted in Ariane Chanturia’s dictionary. Cooked quince is orange, just like sea trout, which also has an orange hue. From this, we concluded that the word foreli (trout) means "quince fish," named after the orange color of quince. (More precisely, phore, since the "f" sound did not exist in ancient Georgian or Greek—hence why we write "photo" instead of "foto".)

But oranges are also orange. If Georgians had no other natural objects to associate with the color, wouldn’t it make sense for them to link oranges to phore as well?

Thus, we now understand the first part of portokhali (and Portugal)—"por-" means "orange" (or more precisely, "quince-colored").

Now, what about "tokhli"? This fascinating word appears in Chanturia’s dictionary, meaning "food" and deriving from "tokhi"—"hoe". The only questionable aspect is Chanturia’s claim that "tokhli" is a borrowed Hebrew word. But how could it be, when "tokhi" is listed just two lines above?

Moreover, "tokhali" is a quintessentially Georgian adjective, which over time evolved into a noun. Chanturia himself translates "tokhli" as "grub", which can mean both "hoed" and "food." Essentially, "tokhli" refers to "something hoed for eating."

Thus, portokhli means "orange food," and Portugal translates to "land of orange food."

A remarkably Kartvelian toponym.