Salonika

name

name ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of Salonica, synonym of Thessaloniki: a port city, the capital of Central Macedonia, in northern Greece. alt-of, alternative

Etymology

From incomplete latinization of Byzantine Greek Σαλονίκη (Saloníkē), clipping of Ancient Greek Θεσσαλονίκη (Thessaloníkē), named for Thessalonike daughter of Philip II, half-sister of Alexander the Great, and wife of Cassander of Macedonia, from Θεσσᾰλός (Thessălós, “Thessalian”) + νῑ́κη (nī́kē, “victory”), possibly named for her birth on the anniversary of the Battle of Crocus Field. Used chiefly as a calque of Ottoman Turkish سلانیك (Selânik) but with occasional reference to modern Greek Σαλονίκη (Saloníki).

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.