ʾwstykʾn'

Middle Persian

Alternative forms

• 𐬋𐬯𐬙𐬌𐬫𐬁𐬥 (ōstiyān) — Pazend
• 𐫍𐫇𐫘𐫤𐫏𐫃𐫀𐫗 (hwstygʾn), 𐫍𐫇𐫘𐫤𐫏𐫃𐫀𐫀𐫗 (hwstygʾʾn /⁠hōstīgān⁠/) — Manichaean

Etymology

Cognate with Parthian 𐫀𐫇𐫘𐫤𐫏𐫃𐫀𐫗 (ʾwstygʾn /⁠ōstīgān⁠/, “strong, firm”), 𐫀𐫇𐫘𐫤𐫏𐫃 (ʾwstyg /⁠ōstīg⁠/, “firm, stable”). Nyberg analyses as *ava-staya-ka-.

Adjective

ʾwstykʾn' • (ōstīgān)

1. firm, strong, sure, reliable

Descendants

• → Old Armenian: ոստիկան (ostikan, “inspector, officer”) (from early Middle Persian or other Middle Iranian language)
• → Georgian: ოსტინაგი (osṭinagi, “steward, manager of a household”)

Further reading

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “ոստիկան”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press, pages 570–571<
• Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond (2004) A Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian (Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum; 3.1), Turnhout: Brepols, pages 71a, 194b
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897) Armenische Grammatik. 1. Theil: Armenische Etymologie (in German), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, pages 215–216
• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 61
• Nyberg, H. S. (1974) A Manual of Pahlavi, Part II: Glossary, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, page 145b
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 500