Argentina

== Etymology ==
{{main|Etymology of Argentina}}
The description of the region by the word ''Argentina'' has been found on a [[Republic of Venice|Venetian]] map in 1536.<ref>The name ''Argentine'' (Spanish) [http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi99/libros-digitales/html/argentin.htm El nombre de Argentina] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303175318/http://www.oni.escuelas.edu.ar/olimpi99/libros-digitales/html/argentin.htm |date=3 March 2016}}</ref>

In English, the name "Argentina" comes from the [[Spanish language]]; however, the naming itself is not Spanish, but [[Italian language|Italian]]. ''Argentina'' ([[Grammatical gender|masculine]] ''argentino'') means in Italian "(made) of silver, silver coloured", derived from the Latin ''argentum'' for silver. In Italian, the adjective or the [[proper noun]] is often used in an autonomous way as a substantive and replaces it and it is said ''l'Argentina''.

The name ''Argentina'' was probably first given by the Venetian and Genoese navigators, such as [[Giovanni Caboto]]. In Spanish and Portuguese, the words for "silver" are respectively ''plata'' and ''prata'' and "(made) of silver" is ''plateado'' and ''prateado'', although ''"argento"'' for "silver" and ''"argentado"'' for "covered in silver" exist in Spanish. ''Argentina'' was first associated with the [[Sierra de la Plata|silver mountains legend]], widespread among the first European explorers of the [[La Plata Basin]].{{sfnm|1a1=Rock|1y=1987|1pp=6, 8|2a1=Edwards|2y=2008|2p=7}}

The first written use of the name in Spanish can be traced to ''[[La Argentina (poem)|La Argentina]]'',{{efn-ua|The poem's full name is ''La Argentina y conquista del Río de la Plata, con otros acaecimientos de los reinos del Perú, Tucumán y estado del Brasil''.}} a 1602 poem by [[Martín del Barco Centenera]] describing the region.{{sfn|Traba|1985|pp=15, 71}} Although "Argentina" was already in common usage by the 18th century, the country was formally named "[[Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata]]" by the [[Spanish Empire]], and "[[United Provinces of the Río de la Plata]]" after independence.

The [[Argentine Constitution of 1826|1826 constitution]] included the first use of the name "Argentine Republic" in legal documents.{{sfn|Constitution of Argentina|loc=1826, art. 1}} The name "Argentine Confederation" was also commonly used and was formalized in the [[Argentine Constitution of 1853]].{{sfn|Constitution of Argentina|loc=1853, Preamble}} In 1860 a presidential decree settled the country's name as "Argentine Republic",{{sfn|Rosenblat|1964|p=78}} and that year's constitutional amendment ruled all the names since 1810 as legally valid.{{sfn|Constitution of Argentina|loc=1860 amd., art. 35}}{{efn-ua|Also stated in article 35 of all subsequent amendments: 1866, 1898, 1949, 1957, 1972 and 1994 (current)}}

In [[English language|English]], the country was traditionally called "the Argentine", mimicking the typical [[Spanish language|Spanish]] usage ''la Argentina''<ref>{{cite web|url=http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Argentina|title=Definition of Argentina in Oxford Dictionaries (British & World English)|publisher=Oxford Dictionaries|place=Oxford, UK|date=6 May 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140305011413/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/Argentina|archive-date=5 March 2014|url-status = dead}}</ref> and perhaps resulting from a mistaken shortening of the fuller name 'Argentine Republic'. 'The Argentine' fell out of fashion during the mid-to-late 20th century, and now the country is referred to as "Argentina".