English Words from Arabic
average
العَوارِيَّة
ʿawāriyya
When cargo was damaged or thrown overboard, Mediterranean merchants shared the loss among all the owners. The shared loss, avaria, became 'an equal share' – and then 'the average'.
- Meaning in Arabic
- damaged goods
- Arabic today says
- المُتَوَسِّط
The path between languagesʿawāriyya → avaria → average
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