Dobrava (Doe-bra-va) is a
toponym
Toponymy, toponymics, or toponomastics is the study of ''wikt:toponym, toponyms'' (proper names of places, also known as place names and geographic names), including their origins, meanings, usage, and types. ''Toponym'' is the general term for ...
with Slovene origins, used in
Slovenia
Slovenia, officially the Republic of Slovenia, is a country in Central Europe. It borders Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the south and southeast, and a short (46.6 km) coastline within the Adriati ...
,
Austria
Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...
,
Croatia
Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...
and
Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...
. It derives from the
Proto-Slavic
Proto-Slavic (abbreviated PSl., PS.; also called Common Slavic or Common Slavonic) is the unattested, reconstructed proto-language of all Slavic languages. It represents Slavic speech approximately from the 2nd millennium BC through the 6th ...
word ''*dǫbъ'' meaning "oak". It can be translated into "oak grove" or "oak woods".
Annali: Sezione slava
'. Volume 9. Naples, Italy: Istituto universitario orientale, 1966. p. 34. The term ''dobrava'' is used exclusively for
Quercus robur
''Quercus robur'', the pedunculate oak, is a species of flowering plant in the beech and oak family, Fagaceae. It is a large tree, native plant, native to most of Europe and western Asia, and is widely cultivated in other temperate regions. It ...
. Forests and other oak species have gained different
sobriquet
A sobriquet ( ) is a descriptive nickname, sometimes assumed, but often given by another. A sobriquet is distinct from a pseudonym in that it is typically a familiar name used in place of a real name without the need for explanation; it may beco ...
s in modern usage. Toponyms that derive from the same root word, ''dob'', are often confused with similar Slovene words — particularly ''dober'' and ''dobra,'' both meaning "good." In contrast to the term ''dobrava''
's specificity, however, ''dober'' and ''dobra'' may be used variably, as names for a miscellany of places.
Slovenia
Villages
Microtoponyms (around 150)
Austria
Microtoponyms
Croatia
Villages
* Gornja Dubrava - former Dobrava (
Međimurska županija /
Gornji Mihaljevec
Gornji Mihaljevec () is a village and municipality in Međimurje County, in northern Croatia.
History
The oldest archaeological finds in Gornji Mihaljevec municipality are from the Roman period. Fragments of Roman roads were found in the villages ...
)
* Donja Dubrava - former Dobrava (Međimurska županija)
Italy
Microtoponyms
* Stallo Dobrave (
Chiusaforte
Chiusaforte (; ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional decentralization entity of Udine in the Italian region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
Geography
It is located about northwest of Trieste and about north of Udine, on the border with Slovenia ...
/
Friuli-Venezia Giulia
Friuli-Venezia Giulia () is one of the 20 regions of Italy and one of five autonomous regions with special statute. The regional capital is Trieste on the Gulf of Trieste, a bay of the Adriatic Sea.
Friuli-Venezia Giulia has an area of and a ...
)
Similar toponyms
Similar toponyms in other Slavic languages
References
{{reflist
Slavic toponyms