Words Arabic Took In
Narkissos
النَّرْجِس
narjis
Narjis, 'narcissus': Ibn Durayd called it Arabised Persian, the only word of the pattern fa'lil, 'with no parallel in the language'. Persian nargis took it from Greek Narkissos, the youth of myth who fell in love with himself and became a flower; hence also 'narcissism'.
- Came
- From Greek
- Original meaning
- a youth of Greek myth
- Meaning in Arabic
- the narcissus flower
«وأمّا فَعْلِل فلم يجئ إلّا نَرْجِس، وهو فارسيّ معرَّب، وقد ذكره النحويّون في الأبنية، وليس له نظيرٌ في الكلام.»
It then went on from Arabic into European languages.
Lisan al-'Arab: 'narjis… a loanword; nirjis is better when Arabised'. F. Abdurrahim (al-Mu'arrab, p. 606): Persian nargis, from Greek Narkissos.
It returned to Europe in its Arabic form: Wadghiri (al-'Arabiyyat al-Mughtaribat 2/213) dates French nargis to the early 19th century, through Egyptian Arabic, as a plant in the flora of Egypt.
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Sources
- ابن دريد، جمهرة اللغة ٢/١١٨٣
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب ٦/٢٣٠
- الجواليقيّ، المعرّب، تحقيق ف. عبد الرحيم، ص٦٠٦
- عبد العلي الودغيري، العربيّات المغتربات ٢/٢١٣
- Wiktionary: narcissus
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