proper noun/θamboˈanɡa/
Zamboanga City (a city in Zamboanga Peninsula, Mindanao, Philippines); Zamboanga Peninsula (an administrative region of Mindanao, Philippines); Zamboanga peninsula (a peninsula in Mindanao, Philippines); Province of Zamboanga (a former province of Mindanao, Philippines); Republic of Zamboanga
Related: chavacano de Zamboanga, zamboangueño
Attested in the Velarde map (1734). From Central Sama Samboangan (“mooring place”), from sambuwang (“large mooring post”) + -an (locative suffix). The root is cognate with Malay sembuang (“large mooring post”). Compare Hokkien 三寶顏 /三宝颜 (Sam-pó-gân, “Zamboanga”).