Words Arabic Took In
astrolabos
الأَسْطُرْلاب
asṭurlāb
Astrolabe is a Greek word, 'star-taker'. The Arabs did not invent the instrument, but they perfected it: the oldest dated astrolabe in existence was made in Baghdad in 927, and Ibn al-Nadim names the astronomer al-Fazari as 'the first in Islam to make an astrolabe'. Europe learned it from Arabic, and kept some Arabic names for its parts: the alidade, the sighting rule on its back, is Arabic al-'iḍāda, and the almucantars, the circles of altitude on its plate, are Arabic al-muqanṭarāt.
- Came
- From Greek
- Original meaning
- star-taker
- Meaning in Arabic
- a round brass instrument for measuring the height of the sun and stars
«وقد يهذي بعض المولعين بالاشتقاقات في هذا الاسم بما لا معنى له، وهو أنّهم يزعمون أنّ «لاب» اسمُ رجل و«أسطر» جمعُ سطر وهو الخطّ. وهذا اسمٌ يونانيّ، اشتقاقُه من لسان العرب جهلٌ وسُخف.»
It then went on from Arabic into European languages.
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Sources
- الخوارزميّ الكاتب، مفاتيح العلوم، «في آلات المنجّمين»، ص٢٥٣
- ابن النديم، الفهرست، ت أيمن فؤاد سيّد ٢/٢٣١: «وهو أوّل من عمل في الإسلام أسطرلابًا»
- The al-Sabah Collection, LNS 36 M: astrolabe signed by Nastulus, 315 AH
- J. Rius, «Nastulus», Biographical Encyclopedia of Astronomers
- Wiktionary: alidade < Arabic al-'iḍāda; almucantar < Arabic al-muqanṭarāt
- دونالد هِل، العلوم والهندسة في الحضارة الإسلاميّة (عالم المعرفة ٣٠٥)، ص٧٥ و٧٩ و٢٩٢–٢٩٣
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