Editing Moldavia (section)

==Name and etymology==
{{Main|Etymology of Moldova}}

The original and short-lived reference to the region was ''Bogdania'', after [[Bogdan I]], the founding figure of the principality.{{efn|Historian {{ill|Ilona Czamańska|pl}} states that this name is "undoubtedly associated with Bogdan I", the first voivode of Moldavia in the 1360s.<ref>Ilona Czamańska. [https://pressto.amu.edu.pl/index.php/bp/article/download/38386/34775/93135 "Ottoman Supremacy and the Political Independence of the Balkan and Central European States."] ''Balcanica Posnaniensia: Acta et studia.'' '''30''' (December 2023). p. 80fn13. {{doi|10.14746/bp.2023.30.5}}</ref>}}

The names ''Moldavia'' and ''Moldova'' are derived from the name of the [[Moldova River]]; however, the etymology is not known and there are several variants:<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://rentmoldova.com/history-of-moldova/where-did-name-moldova.html|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20100127183235/http://rentmoldova.com/history-of-moldova/where-did-name-moldova.html|url-status=dead|title=Where did the name Moldova come from?|archivedate=January 27, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://fasttravel.ro/owerview.moldova.romania/en/|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110919144321/http://www.fasttravel.ro/owerview.moldova.romania/en/|url-status=dead|title=Carpathian Mountains &#124; Fast Travel|date=November 3, 2020|archivedate=September 19, 2011}}</ref>
* A legend mentioned in ''[[Descriptio Moldaviae]]'' (1714–1716) by [[Dimitrie Cantemir]] links it to an [[aurochs]] hunting trip of the [[voivode]] of the [[Voivodeship of Maramureș]] [[Dragoș]] and the latter's chase of a star-marked aurochs. Dragoș was accompanied by his female hound, called ''Molda''; when they reached the shores of an unfamiliar river, Molda caught up with the animal and was killed by it. The dog's name would have been combined with the Romanian word for water, {{lang|ro|apă}}, and given to the river and extended to the country.
* the [[Gothic language|Gothic]] {{lang|got-Latn|Mulda}} ({{Langx|got|𐌼𐌿𐌻𐌳𐌰}}, {{lang|got-Runr|ᛗᚢᛚᛞᚨ}}) meaning 'dust', 'dirt' (cognate with the English ''[[mold (fungus)|mould]]''), referring to the river.
* A [[Slavic languages|Slavic]] etymology ({{lang|sla|-ova}} is a quite common Slavic suffix), marking the end of one Slavic genitive form, denoting ownership, chiefly of feminine nouns (i.e., 'that of Molda').
* A landowner named Alexa Moldaowicz is mentioned in a 1334 document as a local [[boyar]] in service to [[Boleslaus George II of Halych|Yuriy II of Halych]]; this attests to the use of the name before the foundation of the Moldavian state and could be the source for the region's name.{{citation needed|date=April 2010}}

On a series of coins of [[Petru I of Moldavia|Peter I]] and [[Stephen I of Moldavia|Stephen I]] minted by [[Transylvanian Saxons|Saxon]] masters and with German legends, the [[obverse and reverse|reverses]] feature the name of Moldavia in the form {{lang|de|Molderlang}}/{{lang|de|Molderlant}} (recte: {{lang|de|Molderland}}).<ref name=LBieltz>L. Bieltz, "MOLDER LANT — o legendă inedită pe monedele emise de Ștefan I — 1394-1399" in ''Cercetări numismatice'' 7(1996), p. 155–157.</ref><ref name=KParvan>K. Pârvan, "Aspects of Moldavia’s coinage at the end of the fourteenth century", in ''130 Years Since the Establishment of the Modern Romanian Monetary System'', Bucharest, 1997, p. 204–214.</ref>

In several early references,<ref>Ion Ciortan, Măriuca Radu, Octavian Ion Penda, Descriptio Romaniae (cartographie), National Museum of Maps & old books, Autonomous regie Monitorul oficial, Bucharest 2004</ref> ''Moldavia'' is rendered under the composite form ''Moldo-Wallachia'' (in the same way [[Wallachia]] may appear as ''Hungro-Wallachia''). [[Ottoman Turkish language|Ottoman Turkish]] references to Moldavia included {{lang|ota-Latn|Boğdan Iflak}} ({{lang|ota|بغدان افلاق}}, meaning '[[Bogdan#Rulers of Moldavia|Bogdan]]'s Wallachia') and {{lang|ota-Latn|Boğdan}} (and occasionally {{lang|ota-Latn|Kara-Boğdan}}, {{lang|ota|قره بغدان}}, "Black Bogdania"). See also [[list of European regions with alternative names#M|names in other languages]].

The names of the region in other languages include {{langx|fr|Moldavie}}, {{langx|de|Moldau}}, {{langx|hu|Moldva}}, {{langx|ru|Молдавия}} ({{lang|ru-Latn|Moldaviya}}), {{langx|tr|Boğdan Prensliği}}, {{langx|el|Μολδαβία}}.