1690s, capital of the Philippines, said to be from Tagalog may "there is" + nila "shrub of the indigo family," but this last element would not be a native word. It gave its name (with altered spelling) to manilla hemp (1814), the original source of manilla paper (1832); see manilla (1).
Entries linking to manila
manilla 1
variant of Manila used in derived names, especially manilla hemp (1814) "fibrous material obtained from the leaves of the abaca, a type of banana plant native to the Philippines, used to make ropes, mats, etc." It is the source of manilla paper (1832).