According to Wikipedia, the word Malta is derived (via Arabic and Italian) from Melita – the classical Latin name for the island, which in turn is derived from the ancient Greek name: Melitē. This is the genitive form of the Greek word for 'honey' or 'sweetness'; in other words, it literally means 'of honey' or 'of sweetness'.
"The ancient Greeks", Wikipedia goes on to explain, "may have given the island this name after Malta's endemic subspecies of bees. Alternatively, other scholars argue for derivation of the Greek name from an original Phoenician or Punic Maleth, meaning 'haven' or 'port'."
Interestingly, Google Translate renders the Latin word melita into English as 'battle', and gives the Latin word for honey as mel.
© Haydn Thompson 2024