Los Angeles

An anglicized form of Spanish Los Ángeles, an ellipsis of Pueblo de los Ángeles (literally “Town of the Angels”), itself an ellipsis of Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula (literally “Town of Our Lady the Queen of the Angels of Porziuncola”), taken from the Franciscan missionary Juan Crespí's name for the nearby Los Angeles River, first sighted by the Portolá expedition on August 2, the feast day of the dedication of the chapel of Porziuncola (from Latin portiuncula, “little portion”) in Santa Maria degli Angeli (Italian for “Saint Mary of the Angels”) near Assisi, Italy, where St Francis began his order.