Ancient Greek words from Old Persian
5 Ancient Greek words with Old Persian in their history, whether borrowed directly or passed on through other languages.
ἄγγαρος
It is a loanword, of uncertain source. Most scholars look to Iran: the CGL calls it probably Iranian, Schmitt defends an Iranian origin, and Mancini reconstructs borrowed from Old Persian *angarā-…
γάζα
It is borrowed from Old Persian, a word of Persian origin, as the Latin geographer Pomponius Mela already says. The Iranian word is attested as Middle Persian ganǰ (“treasure, treasury”), and it…
Ἰνδία
It is formed from Ancient Greek Ἰνδός (Indós, “Indian; the river Indus”) + -ία (-íā). The base, the name of the river Indus and of the people living by it, is from Old Persian hiⁿdūš, from…
μαγικός
It is formed from Ancient Greek μάγος (mágos, “Magus”) + -ικός (-ikós). The noun μάγος, a member of the Median priestly caste, is from Old Persian 𐎶𐎦𐎢𐏁 (maguš), the name of a Median tribe with…
μάγος
It is borrowed from Old Persian maguš, the name of a Median tribe with priestly functions (Avestan moγu- (moγu-)). Since the original meaning of the Iranian word is unknown, it has no further…