Editing Nicosia (section)

==Names<span class="anchor" id="Name"></span><span class="anchor" id="Etymology"></span><span class="anchor" id="Toponymy"></span>==

The earliest mention of the city is on a clay prism{{clarify|date=February 2024}} of the [[Assyrian Empire|Assyrian]] [[list of emperors of Assyria|king]] [[Esarhaddon]] dated to {{nowrap|672 BC,}} which calls it Lidir.{{clarify|date=February 2024}}<!--Assyrian form?--> The local form of the name was later variously [[Hellenization of place names|hellenized]] as '''Ledra''' ({{langx|grc|Λήδρα}}, ''Lḗdra''),{{citation needed|date=February 2024}} Ledrae ({{lang|grc|Λέδραι}}, ''Lédrai''),{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=379}} Ledroi ({{lang|grc|Λήδροι}}, ''Lḗdroi''),{{sfnp|Michaelides & al.|2012}} and Ledron ({{lang|grc|Λεδρῶν}}, ''Ledrō̂n'', and {{lang|grc|Λῆδρον}}, ''Lē̂dron'').{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=379}}

By [[late antiquity]], [[early Christianity|early Christian sources]] were recording the location as Leuteon ({{lang|grc|Λευτεῶν}}, ''Leuteō̂n'') and as Leucon ({{lang|grc|Λευκῶν}}, ''Leukō̂n''),<ref name=sternburg/> Leucotheon ({{lang|grc|Λευκοθέον}}, ''Leukothéon''), Leucoi Theoi ({{lang|grc|Λευκοί Θεοί}}, ''Leukoí Theoí''),{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=379}} and Leucopolis ({{lang|grc|Λευκούπολις}}, ''Leukoúpolis''),{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=380}} incorporating forms of the [[ancient Greek language|Greek]] words for "white" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|λευκός}}}}, ''leukós'') or "[[populus|poplar]]" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|λεύκη}}}}, ''leúkē'') and for "[[God the Father|God]]" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|Θεός}}}}, ''Theós''), "[[Greek gods|god]]" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|θεός}}}}, ''theós''), or "[[Greek goddesses|goddess]]" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|θεᾱ́}}}}, ''theá''), with possible allusion to a supposed son of [[Ptolemy I Soter]]{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=379}} or to the [[sea goddess]] [[Leucothea]]. During the [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine period]], the form '''Leucosia''' ({{lang|grc|Λευκουσία}}, ''Leukousía''){{mdash}}usually parsed as intending "the white estate" ({{lang|grc|{{linktext|ἡ}} {{linktext|λευκή}} {{linktext|οὐσία}}}}, ''hē leukḗ ousía''){{mdash}}became common;{{sfnp|Papacostas|2012|pp=87-88}} this developed into [[modern Greek language|modern Greek]] Lefkosia ({{lang|el|Λευκωσία}}, ''Lefkosía'', {{IPA|el|lefkoˈsi.a|}}){{sfnp|Hill|1939|pp=380-381}} and [[Turkish language|Turkish]] Lefkoşa ({{IPA|tr|lefˈkoʃa|}}).

The [[Latin language|Latin]] and [[English language|English]] name Nicosia appeared under the medieval [[Crusades|Crusader]] [[House of Lusignan|Lusignan dynasty]],{{sfnp|Hill|1939|p=380}}<ref>{{Cite book |last=Muir |first=Diana Jean |title=Templars: Who Were They? Where Did They Go? |volume=2 |date=2019 |publisher=LULU COM |isbn=978-0-359-38286-6 |pages=404 |oclc=1098320808}}</ref> around the same time the Cypriot port [[Limassol]] replaced its previous initial N with an L for similarly unknown reasons.{{sfnp|Hill|1939|pp=376-377}} [[Sir George Hill|Hill]] provides several other examples of interchanging /l/ and /n/ as far back as the [[Phoenician Cyprus|Phoenician Cypriots]], suggesting the exchange may have arisen from a variable native pronunciation.{{sfnp|Hill|1939|pp=376-377}} The name is also preserved as the [[Armenian language|Armenian]] '''Nikosia''' ({{lang|hy|Նիկոսիա}}) and the [[Cypriot Arabic]] '''Nikusiya'''.<ref>{{Cite book |last2=Stanley |last1=Dumper |first2=Bruce E. |first1=Michael |title=Cities of the Middle East and North Africa: A Historical Encyclopedia|date=2007|publisher=ABC CLIO |isbn=978-1-57607-919-5|pages=275|oclc=912609090}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Borg |first1=Alexander |title=Phonologies of Asia and Africa... |date=1997 |publisher=Eisenbrauns |first2=Alan S. |last2=Kaye |first3=Peter T. |last3=Daniels |isbn=978-1-57506-507-6 |location=[[Winona Lake, Indiana|Winona Lake]] |pages=228 |oclc=605125544}}</ref>{{clarify|date=February 2024}}<!--Arabic script form should be provided-->

The town also appears as Callinicesis ({{lang|grc|Καλλινικησις}}, ''Kallinikēsis'', or {{lang|grc|Καλλινεικησις}}, ''Kallineikēsis'') in some of the [[hagiographies]] concerning the saints [[Saint Tryphillius|Tryphillius]] and [[Saint Spyridon|Spyridon]] ({{fl.|4th century}}).{{sfnp|Hill|1939|pp=379-380}}