name of an imaginary realm in "Las sergas de Esplandián" ("Exploits of Espladán"), a romance by Spanish writer Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo, published in 1510. It was a sequel to his "Amadis de Gaula," and was said to have been influential among Spanish explorers of the New World. It could have led them to misidentify Baja California as this mythical land and to mistake it for an island. The Amadis tales are the Iberian equivalent of the Arthurian romances; they are older than 1510 (traces of them have been found mid-14c.) and were wildly popular. That conquistadors and sailors would have known the story in all its imaginative detail is hardly surprising.

Amadis de Gaula ... set a fashion: all later Spanish writers of books of chivalry adopted the machinery of Amadis de Gaula. Later knights were not less brave (they could not be braver than) Amadis; heroines were not less lovely (they could not be lovelier) than Oriana; there was nothing for it but to make the dragons more appalling, the giants larger, the wizards craftier, the magic castles more inaccessible, the enchanted lakes deeper. Subsequent books of chivalry are simple variants of the types in Amadis de Gaula: Cervantes made his barber describe it as 'the best of all books of this kind.' This verdict is essentially just. Amadis de Gaula was read everywhere, especially in the French version of Herberay des Essarts. It was done into Hebrew during the sixteenth century, and attracted readers as different as St Ignatius of Loyola and Henry of Navarre. Its vogue perhaps somewhat exceeded its merit, but its merits are not inconsiderable. [James Fitzmaurice-Kelly, "Spanish Literature," 1922 edition]

Where Montalvo got the name and what it means, if anything, is a mystery. In reference to the native inhabitants, Californian is attested from 1785 as an adjective, 1789 as a noun. The element Californium (1950) was named in reference to University of California, where it was discovered.

region at the southern extremity of South America, with -ia + Patagon, name given by Europeans to the Tehuelche people who inhabited the coasts of the region, sometimes said to mean literally "large-foot," from Spanish and Portuguese pata "paw, animal foot" (see patten) in reference to the people's llama-skin shoes. But elsewhere said to be from Patagon, name of a dog-headed monster in the prose romance "Amadís de Gaula" (1508) by Garci Ordóñez de Montalvo (which also might have yielded California). Related: Patagonian.

surname, from Irish riagan, literally "little king." Often in reference to Ronald W. Reagan (1911-2004), U.S. governor of California 1967-75, U.S. president 1981-89. Reaganism "policies and principles of Reagan and his supporters" is by 1966 in a California context. Reaganomics, "economic policies of U.S. President Ronald Reagan," is attested by February 1981.

type of large mollusk found on the California coast, 1850, American English, from Spanish abulon, a loan-word from Rumsen (an extinct native language in the Costanoan family), aluan, said to mean "red abalone." Prized for its meat (once an important California export) and for the mother-of-pearl in its large shells (also called ear-shells).

1802, "having red or reddish blood," from red (adj.1) + blood (n.). "Specifically noting the higher worms, or annelids, in which, however, the blood is often greenish" [Century Dictionary]. The figurative meaning "vigorous, spirited" is recorded by 1862.

The children born in California are certainly a great improvement upon those born among us. Nowhere can more rosy specimens of health and beauty be found. Strong-limbed, red-blooded, graceful, and as full of happy animal life as young fawns, they bid fair to develop into admirable types of manhood and womanhood. [Bayard Taylor, "New Pictures from California" 1862]

"watercourse, dry stream bed," 1845, a California word, from American Spanish, in Spanish, "rivulet, small stream," perhaps from Latin arrugia "shaft or pit in a gold mine," which is apparently a compound of ad "to" (see ad-) + ruga "a wrinkle" (see rugae).

intelligence test, first published 1916 as a revision and extension of the Binet-Simon intelligence tests, named for Stanford University (California, U.S.) + the name of French psychologist Alfred Binet (1857-1911), who devised the attempt at a scientific measurement of intelligence.

1860s, "a good deal, a large amount;" by 1878 in financial speculation, originally in California publications; see deal (n.1). As an ironic expression, popular in American English from c. 1965, perhaps a translated Yiddishism (such as a groyser kunst).

the Spanish title for a female saint, feminine singular of san, from Latin sanctus (see saint (n.)). As in Santa Lucia, Santa Maria, and in many toponyms in the U.S. West, such as Santa Ana ("Saint Anne"), the California mountain range, also extended to the hot, strong, dry wind that blows from it.

1964, noun and verb, from skate (v.) on model of surfboard. The phenomenon began c. 1963 in southern California and was nationwide the following summer.

Skateboarding requires only a tapered piece of wood flexibly mounted on roller-skate wheels and a stretch of pavement — preferably downhill and away from traffic. [Life magazine, June 5, 1964]