نوروز مبارک
Etymologically presents
Nowruz Etymologies
The Persian new year arrives with the spring. Here are the words of the garden and the caravan routes that English took from Persian, and the royal family of words that grew from the word for king.
A new day in the garden
The Persian new year begins at the spring equinox. Here are its words, and the garden’s.
- Persian Nowruz from nō “new” + rūz “day” The “new day”, the first day of spring and of the Persian year, celebrated for some three thousand years across Iran, Afghanistan, Central Asia and the Caucasus. Persian nō is a distant cousin of English new. Read the full etymology →
- late 12th century paradise from Avestan pairidaēza A walled enclosure, from pairi, “around”, and diz, “to make a wall”. The Greeks used it for the parks of the Persian kings, and the Greek Bible for the Garden of Eden. Read the full etymology →
- 1560s jasmine from Persian yāsaman Through French and Arabic from the Persian name of the fragrant flower. Read the full etymology →
- 1620s lilac from Persian līlak “bluish” From nīl, “indigo”, the colour of its blossom, by way of Arabic, Spanish and French. Read the full etymology →
- late 14th century peach from Latin persicum malum The “Persian apple”. The fruit came from China, but the Romans met it in Persia and named it accordingly. Read the full etymology →
- 1590s pistachio from Persian pista Through Italian and Greek from the Persian name of the nut, still eaten at Nowruz. Read the full etymology →
- c. 1300 azure from Persian lāžward Lapis lazuli, named after a place where it was mined, and so the deep blue of the sky. Through Arabic, the l was mistaken for the article and dropped. Read the full etymology →
- late 14th century turquoise from French, “Turkish stone” Named for the lands through which it reached Europe, though the finest stones came from mines in Persia. Read the full etymology →
Along the caravan routes
Persian words carried west with silk, spices and travellers.
- 1590s bazaar from Persian bāzār “market” Through Italian and Turkish from Persian. A charity bazaar, a sale of goods for good causes, dates from the 19th century. Read the full etymology →
- 1590s caravan from Persian kārvān A company of travellers crossing the desert together. Van, the covered wagon and later the motor vehicle, is caravan cut short. Read the full etymology →
- 1620s kiosk from Persian kūšk “palace, portico” Through Turkish köşk, an open pavilion in a garden, and French kiosque. Newsstands took the name in the 19th century. Read the full etymology →
- 1580s divan from Persian dīvān “register” An account book, then the council of state that kept it, then the room it met in, and at last the long cushioned seat along its walls. Read the full etymology →
- 1660s shawl from Persian šāl A fine woollen wrap of the Persian and Indian world, made famous in Europe by the shawls of Kashmir. Read the full etymology →
- late 14th century taffeta from Persian tāfta From tāftan, “to twist, spin”: a smooth, crisp woven silk. Read the full etymology →
- 1857 khaki from Urdu khākī “dusty” From Persian khāk, “dust”: the colour of the uniforms first worn by British troops in India. Read the full etymology →
- late 14th century spinach from Persian aspanākh Through Arabic, Spanish and French. Fresh herbs and greens are a sign of spring on the Nowruz table. Read the full etymology →
The game of kings
Persian shāh, “king”, travelled with the game of chess through Arabic and French, and left a whole family of English words.
- shah The title of the kings of Persia, from Old Persian xšāyaθiya, “king”.
- chess Old French esches, the plural of eschec, “check”: the game of kings, named after its royal piece.
- check The warning that the king, the shāh, is under attack. From the pause it forces came check as “stop” and then “verify”.
- checkmate Persian shāh māt, “the king is stunned, helpless”; popularly, “the king is dead”.
- rook Persian rukh, the chariot. It has nothing to do with the bird.
- exchequer The table covered in a chequered cloth on which the medieval English treasury reckoned its accounts with counters.
- cheque A check, a counterfoil used to verify a payment and prevent forgery; the British spelling copies exchequer.
- chequered Patterned in squares like a chessboard, and so, figuratively, a past of alternating good and bad fortune.