That La Mancha is nowhere near the sea.
the English Channel is, in fact, called in Spanish “El canal de la mancha” --- don’t know why; “sleeve” is in Spanish “manga”, as Thews points out (it may once have been “mancha” --- who knows?). I don’t think it’s anything to do with the “La Mancha” of Don Quijote,either.
On an interesting side note, the meaning of ‘mancha’ or ‘manxa’ is something like ‘no water’. About 18,000 or so years ago, the Channel was a full land bridge between what are now England and France, and so there was no water in the region. Of course I don’t mean to suggest that there might be a link (pun intended) here, but intriguing nonetheless.
Guess I should read the full thread a little more carefully next time! I see the Spanish meaning has been mentioned above. Silly Shmegege.
I don’t think there were many Spanish-speaking punters around 18,000 years ago in what is now Spain - various lingos have come and gone in the meantime!
In French, a ‘manche’ is indeed a sleeve but also used to apply to an arm of sea:
MANCHE en Géographie, se dit d’Un canal, d’un espace étroit de mer renfermé entre deux terres. La manche de Bristol. La manche de Tartarie. Etc.
(Translation would be: MANCHE in geography, concerning a canal, a narrow width of sea enclosed by two land masses. “The Bristol Channel”, “the Tartar Channel”, etc)
Definition from ‘Dictionnaire d’autrefois’: