5 ms·
While on the subject of words with Arabic etymological roots, my personal favourite is Betelgeuse. The Arabic name of the star is يد الجوزاء (yad al-Jauzā) whic
by saljam 14y ago
While on the subject of words with Arabic etymological roots, my personal favourite is Betelgeuse. The Arabic name of the star is يد الجوزاء (yad al-Jauzā) which means "the hand of the Jauzā". But after a few medieval translation it got morphed into it's current name. Which, unfortunately, ended up sounding like, and often back translated as, ابط الجوزاء -- literally "the armpit of the Jauzā"!