tripolitania

Etymology

From Ancient Greek Τριπολιτάνια (Tripolitánia), from Τριπολίτης (Tripolítēs, “Tripolitan”) + -ία (-ía, “forming abstract nouns”), from Τρίπολις (Trípolis, “Tripoli”) + -της (-tēs, “forming abstract nouns”), reanalyzed as Τρίπολ-ῑ́της (Trípol-ī́tēs) (compare πολίτης (polítēs) and Latin -ī̆tānus), from τρι- (tri-, “three”) + πόλις (pólis, “city”), referring to the three cities Oea, Sabratha and Leptis Magna.