Derived from the active participle of كَهَنَ (kahana, “to predict the future”), from the root ك ه ن (k h n). Compare Biblical Hebrew כֹּהֵן (kōhḗn), Ugaritic 𐎋𐎅𐎐 (khn), Aramaic כָּהֲנָא (kāhănā) and Phoenician 𐤊𐤄𐤍 (khn), Ge'ez ካህን (kahn), Classical Syriac ܟܗܢܐ.