وزير

Betekenis (Engels)

minister, cabinet minister
vizier
helper, assistant
queen

υπουργόσ

Hilfskraft

Assistentin

Frekwensie

Uitgespreek as (IPA)

/wa.ziːr/

The original attested meaning is “assistant”, and the political sense only arose in the Umayyad period. Likely related to the verb وَزَرَ (wazara, “to carry, to shoulder”) with the root و ز ر (w z r), meaning “someone who carries a burden”, but owing to the idea of assistance by handmen this may be denominal. Likely borrowed from an Iranian term surfacing as Middle Persian [script needed] (wcyl /⁠vičīr⁠/, “decision, judgment”), Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬗𐬌𐬭𐬀 (vīcira, “arbitrator, judge”, literally “deciding, one who is taking or has made a decision”).