From Ottoman Turkish جنوه (Cenova), from Italian Genova directly and via Persian جنوآ (Jenoâ), from Latin Genua, as the city was known by the ancient Ligurians; probably from the Ancient Ligurian word for “knee”, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵnéwo- (“knee”), a thematic derivative of Proto-Indo-European *ǵónu, in this sense “angle”, from its geographical position.