Żabbar

Żabbar (Maltese: Ħaż-Żabbar, [ħɐzˈzɐbbɐr]), also known as Città Hompesch, is a city in the South Eastern Region of Malta. It is the sixth largest city in the country, with a population of 15,404 as of March 2014. Originally a part of Żejtun, Żabbar was granted the title of Città Hompesch by the last of the Grand Masters of the Order of St. John to reign in Malta, Ferdinand von Hompesch zu Bolheim.

Etymology

The name of the city probably derives from the Maltese word tiżbor, the process of pruning trees. Indeed, a number of families who specialised in pruning, żbir, are known to have lived in the vicinity of this village during the Middle Ages. Other possibilities of this derivation exist. Żabbar was also the surname of an important family that was known to have lived in the area. Ħaż-Żabbar could also have been a corruption of Ħas-Sabbar (the consoler village), because people from all over the island used to visit the village to pray Our Lady of Graces for consolation.

The word sabbar could also be the plural of sabbara (the Aloe vera plant) in Maltese. This would be derived from the Arabic صَبّار (ṣabbār) meaning cacti. In fact, in some Arab countries ṣabbār means prickly pear. The "ṣ" in this case, is strong and is pronounced as "z". Judging by the names of other Maltese villages, like nearby Żejtun (meaning "olive" in Arabic) it seems quite probable that such names may have agricultural connotations.