Page "Amhara people" Paragraph 1

The derivation of the name " Amhara " is debated ; according to some it comes from the word amari, meaning " pleasing, agreeable, beautiful and gracious " ( also mehare, " gracious ", containing the same m-h-r root as the verb to learn ), while some Ethiopian historians such as Getachew Mekonnen Hasen say it is an ethnic name connected with Himyarites.

Still others say that it derives from Ge ' ez, meaning " free people " ( i. e. from Ge ' ez ዓም " ʿam " meaning " people ," and ሓራ " h. ara ", meaning " free " or " soldier "), though others, such as Donald Levine, have dismissed this as a folk etymology.

Ultimately, however, the name for the language and ethnic group came from the medieval province of Amhara, located in central Ethiopia in modern Amhara Region and the pre-1995 province of Wollo.