Persian words

 What we now know as Iran was once Persia, a country whose ancient empire covered much of the Middle East. Its position on the Silk Road bringing desirable goods from further east made it a great trading nation. These goods would be carried by caravan [L15th], borrowed via French from Persian kārwān. The idea of carrying heavy loads of goods led to the word, which was later shortened to van [E19th], being used for a covered wagon in the late 17th century and to the sense of mobile home in the 19th. Persian bāzār ‘market’ is the origin, via Turkish and Italian, of our bazaar [L16th].

 Luxury fabrics were among the traded goods, with many names coming from Persian. Seersucker [E18th], comes from Persian šir o šakar, meaning ‘milk and honey’ and also ‘striped cotton garment’ because seersucker was typically striped. Taffeta [LME], a silk fabric, comes via French and Latin from tāftan ‘to shine’. Shawl [M17th] is from šāl, a word found in both Persian and Urdu, a northern Indian language with many words shared with Persian (see also indian words) and is probably based on the name of Shāliāt, a town in India, while pashmina [M19th] comes from Persian pašm ‘wool’. Khaki [M19th] comes via Urdu khākī ‘dust-coloured’ from Persian khāk ‘dust’; the dull brownish-yellow material was first used for uniforms by British troops in India during the 1840s. Another trade good may have been brassware, for bronze [M17th] probably comes via French and Italian from Persian birinj ‘brass’.

 The Middle Eastern way of life has also given us a number of words. Kiosk [E17th] is first found in English in the original sense of Persian kuš ‘pavilion’ before borrowing the sense of small shop from French. Turban [M16th] came via French and Turkish tülbent from Persian dulband, and so did the word tulip [L16th], borrowed from the French form tulipe. The flower had been given its name in Turkish from the similarity of the shape of the wild flower to a turban. Divan [L16th] again came via French and Turkish from dīwān, which had various senses including ‘bench’. As a piece of furniture, it was originally [E18th] a low bench or raised section of floor against an interior wall common in Middle Eastern countries; the modern sense is late 19th century. Ottoman [L18th] was an alternative name for a similar object, an upholstered box that doubled as a seat. Since the early 20th century in purdah has been used for a period of isolation or, especially, for politicians when they cannot talk about a given subject. Its origins [E17th] are Persian and Urdu parda ‘veil, curtain’, referring to the separation of the women of the household when strangers were visiting. A mogul has been used since the mid 17th century for an important or influential person, but its origins lie in the Mogul or Mughal dynasty that ruled much of India between the 16th and 19th centuries. It comes from Persian muġul, ‘Mongol’. A tiara is a classical Greek word that reached English through Latin. It originally referred to the headdress of the Persian kings and only became the modern ornamental headband in the mid 17th century.

 See also arsenic, big, check, goo, hazard, marzipan, orange, peach, spanish words.