New Jersey – Nova Caesare
- PostEagle
- June 23, 2020
- Word Etymology
- 0 Comments
I suspect that most citizens in this state do not realize that the words ‘NOVA CAESARE’ are on the state flag. This means ‘NEW JERSEY’. JERSEY is the altered spelling of CAESAR.
Julius Caesar sailed from Gaul across the English channel to Britain. Along the way he stopped at an island and named it after himself. The pronunciation and the spelling changed over thousands of years. The inhabitants of the island always referred to it as CAESARE (pronounced – jay czare). When the immigrants came to our shore it reminded them of their island and so they called it ‘Nova Caesare’ – New Caesare – New Jersey.
The words – CZAR and KAISER – also come from CAESAR. The word – CAESAR – comes from a Latin word CAESUM meaning TO CUT, TO KILL. Legend indicated that the family of Caesars were delivered in birth by cutting the mother’s womb. This gave rise to the family name and today’s word – ‘Cesarean ‘ – commonly referred to as C Section. 33% of births today are Cesarean.