صفرا

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic صَفْرَاء (ṣafrāʔ).

Adjective

صفرا • (safrâ)

1. Arabic feminine singular and nonhuman plural of اصفر (asfer, “yellow”)

Noun

صفرا • (safra)

1. bile, a bitter secretion produced by the liver and stored in the gall bladder

   Synonym: اود (öd)

2. anger combined with courage, choler, irritability

Descendants

• Turkish: safra

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “safra1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4009
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “صفرا”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 762
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Bilis”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[2], Vienna, column 121
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “صفرا”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[3], Vienna, column 2967
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “safra1”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “صفرا”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[4], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1179

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic صَفْرَاء (ṣafrāʔ), feminine singular of أَصْفَر (ʔaṣfar).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [saf.ˈɾɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [säf.ɾɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [säf.ɾɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [säf.ɾɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [säf.ɾɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [sæf.ɹɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [säf.ɾɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	safrā
Dari reading?	safrā
Iranian reading?	safrâ
Tajik reading?	safro

Noun

Dari	صفرا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	сафро

صفرا • (safrâ)

1. bile

   Synonym: زردآب (zard-âb)

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 52—53:

     از قضا سرکنگبین صفرا فزود
     روغن بادام خشکی می‌‌نمود
     از هلیله قبض شد اطلاق رفت
     آب آتش را مدد شد همچو نفت

     az qazā sirkangabin safrā fuzūd
     rōğan-i bādām xuškī mē-nimūd
     az halīla qabz šud itlāq raft
     āb ātaš rā madad šud hamčō naft

     By Divine destiny, oxymel increased the bile,
     and oil of almonds was producing dryness.
     From [giving] myrobalan constipation resulted, relaxation ceased;
     And water fed the flames, like naphtha.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Derived terms

• کیسه صفرا (kise-ye safrâ, “gallbladder”)

 

Adjective

صفرا • (safrâ)

1. (archaic, for Arabic feminine nouns) yellow

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “صفرا”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic صَفْرَاء (ṣafrāʔ), feminine singular of أَصْفَر (ʔaṣfar).

Adjective

صَفْرا • (safrā) (Hindi spelling सफ़्रा)

1. (reserved for feminine or nonhuman plural nouns) yellow

Noun

صَفْرا • (safrā) ? (Hindi spelling सफ़्रा)

1. bile

Further reading

• Platts, John T. (1884) “صفرا”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.