Etymology of Singapore

The English language name Singapore comes from Malay Singapura, "Lion-city", but it is possible that one element of its name had a more distant original source. Pura comes from Sanskrit puram, "city, fortress", and is related to Greek polis, "citadel, city". Singa- comes from Sanskrit siṃha, which means lion. Today the city-state is referred to as the Lion City. Recent studies of Singapore indicate that lions probably never lived there, not even Asiatic lions; the beast seen by Sang Nila Utama, the founder of Singapore who gave it the name meaning "Lion City", was most likely a tiger, probably the Malayan Tiger. Alternatively, it could simply be a reference to the ancient Sinhapura as described in the Mahabharata