'Moscow' originates from Russian, specifically the word 'Moskva', where the name originally referred to the river now called the Moskva; the river-name element is likely from older Finno-Ugric hydronyms (e.g. Moksha or Merya) and may have meant something like 'dark' or 'wet'.

'Moscow' entered Western European languages in forms such as Medieval Latin 'Moscovia' and French 'Moscou' and was adopted into English as 'Moscow' by the early modern period, ultimately reflecting the Russian 'Moskva'.

Initially it denoted the river and the locality on it; over time the name came to refer primarily to the city that grew on the river and, by extension, to the political center of the state.