The prefix r-ꜥ can be used as a derivational morpheme forming nouns of action from infinitives, so a likely interpretation of the name as a whole is "building site" or "construction in progress".[2] Michel Chaveau of the École pratique des hautes études argues that Rhakotis may simply have been the Egyptian name of the construction site for Alexandria;[2] while John Baines contends that the style of the name and its linguistic context indicate that the name is older.[4]