Iraq
wiktionary
Borrowed from Arabic الْعِرَاق (al-ʿirāq, “Iraq”), of uncertain derivation. Medieval Arabic uses ‘Iraq’ as a geographical term for the area in the south and center of the modern Iraq. Some Arabic sources say that Iraq comes from عَرِيق (ʿarīq, “deep-rooted”), from عِرْق (ʿirq, “root”), while others say it is from Middle Persian's [script needed](ˀl'k'/erāg/, “lowlands”), due to historic rule from Iraq's plateau-situated neighbor, Persia.
etymonline
Iraq
country name, 1920, from an Arabic name attested since 6c. for the region known in Greek as Mesopotamia; often said to be from Arabic `araqa, covering notions such as "perspiring, deeply rooted, well-watered," which may reflect the desert Arabs' impression of the lush river-land. But the name might be from, or influenced by, Sumerian Uruk (Biblical Erech), anciently a prominent city in what is now southern Iraq (from Sumerian uru "city"). Related: Iraqi (attested in English from 1777, in reference to regional Mesopotamian music or dialects).
