The name "America" was coined by Martin Waldseemüller from "Americus Vespucius", the Latinized version of the name of Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512), the Italian explorer who mapped South America's east coast and the Caribbean Sea in the early 16th century. Later, Vespucci's published letters were the basis of Waldseemüller's 1507 map, which is the first usage of "America". The adjective "American" subsequently denoted the New World. Another possible origin of the name is with Richard Amerike, a wealthy Welsh man who may have funded John Cabot's 1497 expedition to the new World.