The Elvish name-ending -waith literally meant 'people' but often, as in the case of Haradwaith, it became transferred to the region where that people lived. So, while the name Haradwaith literally meant 'south people', it expressed an extended meaning something like 'land of the southern people'. A similar effect is seen in names like Enedwaith ('middle people', used of the lands between Arnor and Gondor) and Forodwaith ('north people', used of both a people and of the cold northern lands where they dwelt).
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