The Origins of Cayman and Alligator

Cayman was just another word for an alligator at the time and when those reptiles were found on a small group of islands south of Cuba those islands were called the Cayman Islands. So where did that word Cayman come from? Well it turns out to be a West African word. Apparently when some of the earliest slaves were brought to the Caribbean they saw the animal which appeared to be very similar to certain reptiles found in Africa. The Africans brought it to the Caribbean where the Spanish borrowed it and then the word passed into English via Spanish works like this medicine bookThat's one of the first references we have to an alligator in English. But note that that term followed another word for