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Leopoldville

Leopoldville

1 9.7
Former name of Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo
  • proper noun
: Leopoldville
  • I'd rather kiss a leper from Leopoldville... before I let any of that lot touch me.
  • Leopoldville, now Kinshasa

Examples

  • In this region of Africa, the capital city was once known as Leopoldville before it was renamed Kinshasa.

  • 5 Ch. Didier Gondola analyzes a similar set of processes at work in colonial Leopoldville.

    Academic text (2004)
  • In early January 1947, Elisofon arrived in Leopoldville, now Kinshasa.

    Academic text (1993)
  • The virus spread and found its way to the town formerly known as Leopoldville (now Kinshasa).

    Blog text (21)
  • We took a little narrow-gauge railway up to Leopoldville and then continued upriver, but not on a steamer.

    Academic text (1990)
  • The Expedition's European officers first recorded significant food shortages at the Congo Free State (CFS) station of Leopoldville.

    Academic text (2006)
  • US influence was especially strong in the first months of independence when two Americans—Ralph Bunche followed by Cordier—served as Hammarskjöld's representatives in Leopoldville.

    Academic text (1992)
  • We sailed from New York to Antwerp and spent some time in Belgium, consulting the authorities at the Colonial Ministry and then finally sailing on the old steamship "Leopoldville" for the Congo.

    Academic text (1990)
  • In histories of the Expedition, both scholarly and popular, the caravan first suffered the effects of a limited food supply at Leopoldville, which it found "in the grip of a near-famine" as a result of the CFS's brutality and poor organization.

    Academic text (2006)
  • While the secession of Katanga from Congo-Leopoldville (today Zaire) and of Biafra from Nigeria was not welcomed, Bangladesh was recognized and admitted to the United Nations.

    Academic text (1992)

Synonyms

Kinshasa
vsLeopoldville
15 6.0

Capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the Congo River opposite Brazzaville

is the older name formerly used for the same capital city

Surface Forms

Morphology

Leopoldville = Leopold (semi-transparent) = Leopold + ville

Formed from the personal name 'Leopold' plus the place-name element '-ville'; the structure is clear but requires knowledge of the name and that '-ville' marks towns.

Etymology

Leopoldville comes from the name of Belgian King Leopold and the French ending -ville, which means 'town', like in 'Nashville' or the word 'village'. So Leopoldville meant 'Leopold's town' and was the name used during colonial times for the city now called Kinshasa.