𐫗𐫖𐫏𐫍𐫐

Middle Persian

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *namadka-, perhaps a compound of *ná (“no”) +‎ *mad(a) (“wet”) +‎ *-akah (“nominal suffix, -ic”), the first two components from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ná (“no, not”) + Proto-Indo-European *meh₂d- (“to become wet”), literally "no-moisture"; that is, the salt that is left after evaporation of water.[1]

Alternative theories derive the word from Proto-Indo-European *nébʰos (“cloud, moisture”) and relate it to Persian نم (nam, “moisture, humidity”).[1][2]

Compare Bactrian ναμιλγο (namilgo).

Noun

𐫗𐫖𐫏𐫍𐫐 • (namak)[3]

  1. (Book Pahlavi) salt

Descendants
  • Classical Persian:

References
  1. Edelʹman, D. I. (2015) “*namad(a)ka-”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 5, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 464
  2. Nourai, Ali (2011) “Nebh”, in An Etymological Dictionary of Persian, English and other Indo-European Languages, page 323
  3. MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “namak”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
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