The city is spelled "Marrakech" in French, "Marrakech" or "Marrakesh" in English, "Marrakesch" in German, "Marruecos" in Spanish and "Marakeş" in Turkish. The probable origin of its name is from the Berber (Amazigh) words mur (n) akush (ⵎⵓⵔ ⵏ ⴰⴽⵓⵛ), which means "Land of God". (The word "mur" is used now in Berber mostly in the feminine form "tamurt".) The same word "mur" appears in the names Mauretania, the North African kingdom of the Maghreb during antiquity, and in contemporary Mauritania, the nation-state south of Morocco, although the link remains controversial as these names may also originate from μαύρος mavros, the ancient Greek word for black.