Kòrsou
Papiamentu
Etymology
From Portuguese curação ("cure" or "medical recovery"). Compare Sranan Tongo Korsow.
Portuguese sailors who were ill were left at the island now known as Curaçao. When their ship returned, they had recovered, likely cured from scurvy, probably after eating fruit with vitamin C. From then on the Portuguese referred to this as Ilha da Curação (Island of Healing).
Another explanation is that it is derived from the Portuguese word for heart (coração), referring to the island as a centre in trade.
Doublet of Curaçao.
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