כרפס

Hebrew

FWOTD – 5 April 2023

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /karˈpas/

Etymology 1

Root
כ־ר־פ־ס (k-r-p-s)

Compare Maltese karfus (“celery”), Classical Syriac ܟܪܦܣܐ (kerpəsā, “celery”), Arabic كَرَفْس (karafs, “celery”). The ultimate provenance of these terms is murky.

Noun

כַּרְפַּס • (karpás) m

1. celery

Synonyms

• סֶלֶרִי (séleri)

References

• “כרפס” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• כרפס on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Etymology 2

Via Early Middle Persian from Sanskrit कर्पास (karpāsa, “cotton”).

Noun

כַּרְפַּס • (karpás) m

1. (biblical, rare) a type of expensive fabric made of cotton
   • Tanach, Esther 1:6, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     חוּר כַּרְפַּס וּתְכֵלֶת אָחוּז בְּחַבְלֵי־בוּץ וְאַרְגָּמָן עַל־גְּלִילֵי כֶסֶף וְעַמּוּדֵי שֵׁשׁ מִטּוֹת זָהָב וָכֶסֶף עַל רִצְפַת בַּהַט־וָשֵׁשׁ וְדַר וְסֹחָרֶת׃

     there were hangings of white, fine cotton, and blue, bordered with cords of fine linen and purple, upon silver rods and pillars of marble; the couches were of gold and silver, upon a pavement of green, and white, and shell, and onyx marble.

Usage notes

• According to some, the color of this fabric was green.

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: κάρπᾰσος (kárpasos), κάλπᾰσος (kálpasos)
  • ⇒ Ancient Greek: καρπᾰ́σινος (karpásinos, “fabric made of cotton”)
  • → Latin: carbasus (“fabric of cotton”)

References

• Lewy, Heinrich (1895) Die semitischen Fremdwörter im Griechischen (in German), Berlin: R. Gaertner’s Verlagsbuchhandlung, page 126
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 235–242 (for the cotton)
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎^[2] (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 236 (for the celery)
• Löw, Immanuel (1914–1915) “Karpas”, in Zeitschrift für Assyriologie und verwandte Gebiete‎^[3] (in German), volume 29, pages 247–264 (for either)