ալաժահր

Middle Armenian

Etymology

From Ottoman Turkish آلاجهری (ala cehri).

Noun

ալաժահր • (alažahr)

1. a kind of buckthorn berry that is used as a yellow dye
   • 14th–15th centuries, Mattʿēos J̌ułayecʿi, Meknutʿiwn Vecʿōrēicʿ [Commentary on Hexaemeron] :

     […] զտօրունն եւ զլեղակն յիրար խառնեն, այս ինքն՝ զսեաւն եւ զկարմիրն, ծնանի լու(ր)ջ, իսկ յորժամ յալաժահրն ձգեն, որ Է դեղին, կանչի, եւ նիւթն բնական սպիտակ լինի […]

     […] ztōrunn ew zleġakn yirar xaṙnen, ays inkʻn, zseawn ew zkarmirn, cnani lu(r)ǰ, isk yoržam yalažahrn jgen, or Ē deġin, kančʻi, ew niwtʻn bnakan spitak lini […]

Descendants

• Armenian: ալաժահրի (alažahri)

Further reading

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971) “ալաժահրի”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume I, Yerevan: University Press, page 90b
• Ališan, Ġewond (1895) “ալաժարի, ալաժահրի”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʻiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 18, page 14
• Bläsing, Uwe (2019) “Die armenischen Pflanzennamen in Peter Simon Pallas’ Flora Rossica. Eine Studie zu Etymologie und sprachlicher Interaktion”, in U. Bläsing, J. Dum-Tragut, T.M. van Lint, editors, Armenian, Hittite, and Indo-European Studies: A Commemoration Volume for Jos J.S. Weitenberg (Hebrew University Armenian Studies; 15) (in German), Leuven: Peeters, page 28
• Norayr N. Biwzandacʻi (2000) “ալաժահր”, in Martiros Minassian, editor, Baṙagirkʻ storin hayerēni i matenagrutʻeancʻ ŽA–ŽĒ darucʻ [Dictionary of Middle Armenian Based on the Literature of 11–17th Centuries]‎^[1], edited from the author's unfinished manuscript written 1884–1915, Geneva: Martiros Minassian, page 13