أرز

Meaning

Noun

cedar (Cedrus gen. et spp.)

Verb

to telephone, to ring up

Concepts

rice

🍚

cedar

paddy

cedars

telephone

☎️

sheaf of rice

sheaf of rice

Synonyms

رز

🍚

Translations

arroz

🍚

Reis

🍚

riz

🍚

arroz

🍚

riso

cedrus

cèdre

cedro

Zeder

rijst

🍚

arròs

🍚

ceder

ρύζι

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ʔarz/

Etymology

The tree is native to the region north of Israel and Judea. Borrowed into Arabic and Ge'ez አርዝ (ʾärz) and before the pertinent vowel change into Hebrew אֶרֶז (ʾérez, “cedar”) from Aramaic אַרְזָא / ܐܪܙܐ (ʾarzā, “cedar”), also found in Ugaritic 𐎀𐎗𐎇 (ảrz, “cedar”), continuing Akkadian 𒄑𒂞 (^(GIŠ)ERIN /⁠erēnu, erinnu⁠/) from Sumerian 𒄑𒂞 (^(GIŠ)ERIN /⁠eren⁠/), which also passed into Hittite 𒄑𒂞 (^(GIŠ)ERIN /⁠herin(a)-⁠/, “cedar”) and also Hurrian 𒄑𒂊𒊑𒅎𒁉 (^(GIŠ)e-ri-im-bi /⁠erimbi⁠/), 𒄑𒂊𒊑𒁉 (^(GIŠ)e-ri-bi /⁠eribi⁠/, “cedar”) and thence back into a Hittite alternative form. While Rabin argues for a Hittite origin of the word, the form ʾarz recalls Proto-Iranian *hampr̥sā (“juniper”), which is not remote in meaning – Ancient Greek κέδρος (kédros) also means both cedar and juniper.