قنطار

Arabic

Root
ق ن ط ر (q n ṭ r)
3 terms

FWOTD – 11 April 2020

Etymology

From Classical Syriac ܩܰܢܛܺܝܪܳܐ (qanṭīrā), ܩܰܢܛܺܝܢܳܪܳܐ (qanṭīnārā), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“hundredweight”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qin.tˤaːr/
  • (Moroccan) IPA^(key): /qan.tˤaːr/

Noun

قِنْطَار • (qinṭār) m (plural قَنَاطِير (qanāṭīr))

1. hundredweight, quintal, kantar (a weight measure, usually the largest and dividing to 100 رَطْل (raṭl))
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 3:75:

     وَمِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْكِتَابِ مَنْ إِنْ تَأْمَنْهُ بِقِنْطَارٍ يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ إِنْ تَأْمَنْهُ بِدِينَارٍ لَا يُؤَدِّهِ إِلَيْكَ إِلَّا مَا دُمْتَ عَلَيْهِ قَائِمًا

     wa-min ʔahli l-kitābi man ʔin taʔmanhu bi-qinṭārin yuʔaddihi ʔilayka wa-minhum man ʔin taʔmanhu bidīnārin lā yuʔaddihi ʔilayka ʔillā mā dumta ʕalayhi qāʔiman

     And among the People of the Scripture is he who, if you entrust him with a qintar, he will return it to you. And among them is he who, if you entrust him with a dinar, he will not return it to you unless you persist confronting him.

   1. (obsolete, Syria until 1931) 6000 وُقِيّة (wuqiyya) – 256.4 kg
   2. (obsolete, Saudi-Arabia until 1964) 150 رَطْل (raṭl) – 67.5 kg
   3. (obsolete, Egypt/Sudan until 1891) 36 أُقَّة (ʔuqqa) – 133+¹⁄₃ وِقِيّة (wiqiyya) – 230,400 قِيرَاط (qīrāṭ) – 44.93 kg
   4. (obsolete, Libya until 1927) 40 أُقَّة (ʔuqqa) – 51.28 kg
   5. (obsolete, Tunisia until 1895) 2000 وُقِيّة (wuqiyya) – 53.9 kg
   6. (obsolete, Algeria until 1843) 2400 وُقِيّة (wuqiyya) – 81.912 kg
   7. (obsolete, Morocco until 1923) 50.75 kg
2. (figurative) wealth, great possessions
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 3:14:

     زُيِّنَ لِلنَّاسِ حُبُّ ٱلشَّهَوَاتِ مِنَ ٱلنِّسَاءِ وَٱلْبَنِينَ وَٱلْقَنَاطِيرِ ٱلْمُقَنْطَرَةِ مِنَ ٱلذَّهَبِ وَٱلْفِضَّةِ وَٱلْخَيْلِ ٱلْمُسَوَّمَةِ وَٱلْأَنْعَامِ وَٱلْحَرْثِ ذٰلِكَ مَتَاعُ ٱلْحَيَاةِ ٱلدُّنْيَا وَٱللّٰهُ عِنْدَهُ حُسْنُ ٱلْمَآبِ

     zuyyina li-n-nāsi ḥubbu š-šahawāti mina n-nisāʔi wa-l-banīna wa-l-qanāṭīri l-muqanṭarati mina ḏ-ḏahabi wa-l-fiḍḍati wa-l-ḵayli l-musawwamati wa-l-ʔanʕāmi wa-l-ḥarṯi ḏālika matāʕu l-ḥayāti d-dunyā wa-llāhu ʕindahu ḥusnu l-maʔābi

     Beautified for men is the love of things they covet, women, children, heaped-up wealth of gold and silver, branded beautiful horses, cattle and cropland. This is the pleasure of the present world’s life, but Allah has the finest return with Him.

Declension

Declension of noun قِنْطَار (qinṭār)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قِنْطَار qinṭār	الْقِنْطَار al-qinṭār	قِنْطَار qinṭār
Nominative	قِنْطَارٌ qinṭārun	الْقِنْطَارُ al-qinṭāru	قِنْطَارُ qinṭāru
Accusative	قِنْطَارًا qinṭāran	الْقِنْطَارَ al-qinṭāra	قِنْطَارَ qinṭāra
Genitive	قِنْطَارٍ qinṭārin	الْقِنْطَارِ al-qinṭāri	قِنْطَارِ qinṭāri
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قِنْطَارَيْن qinṭārayn	الْقِنْطَارَيْن al-qinṭārayn	قِنْطَارَيْ qinṭāray
Nominative	قِنْطَارَانِ qinṭārāni	الْقِنْطَارَانِ al-qinṭārāni	قِنْطَارَا qinṭārā
Accusative	قِنْطَارَيْنِ qinṭārayni	الْقِنْطَارَيْنِ al-qinṭārayni	قِنْطَارَيْ qinṭāray
Genitive	قِنْطَارَيْنِ qinṭārayni	الْقِنْطَارَيْنِ al-qinṭārayni	قِنْطَارَيْ qinṭāray
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَنَاطِير qanāṭīr	الْقَنَاطِير al-qanāṭīr	قَنَاطِير qanāṭīr
Nominative	قَنَاطِيرُ qanāṭīru	الْقَنَاطِيرُ al-qanāṭīru	قَنَاطِيرُ qanāṭīru
Accusative	قَنَاطِيرَ qanāṭīra	الْقَنَاطِيرَ al-qanāṭīra	قَنَاطِيرَ qanāṭīra
Genitive	قَنَاطِيرَ qanāṭīra	الْقَنَاطِيرِ al-qanāṭīri	قَنَاطِيرِ qanāṭīri

Derived terms

• قَنْطَرَ (qanṭara, “to heap up wealth”)

Descendants

• Maltese: qantar
• Moroccan Arabic: قنطار (qanṭār)
• → Azerbaijani: qantar
  • → Armenian: ղանթար (ġantʻar)
• → Crimean Tatar: qantar
• → English: kantar
• → Italian: cantaro
• → Medieval Latin: quintāle
  • → Italian: quintale
  • → Old French: quintal (see there for further descendants)
  • → Portuguese: quintal
  • → Spanish: quintal
• → Ottoman Turkish: قنطار (kantar) (see there for further descendants)
• → Persian: قنطار (qentâr)

References

• Cardarelli, François (2003) Encyclopaedia of Scientific Units, Weights and Measures. Their SI Equivalences and Origins, London: Springer, →ISBN
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 203

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār, “hundredweight, quintal”), itself from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“hundredweight”).

Noun

قنطار • (kantar)

1. kantar, hundredweight, quintal, a unit of weight used in various Eastern Mediterranean countries
2. steelyard, a transportable balance with unequal arm lengths which incorporates a sliding counterweight

   Synonym: قپان (kapan)

Derived terms

• قنطار آغاسی (kantar ağası, “weights inspector”)
• قنطار طوپی (kantar topu, “weight of a steelyard”)
• قنطار قاونی (kantar kavunu, “large variety of melon”)
• قنطار قولی (kantar kolu, “arm of a steelyard”)
• قنطار كرته‌سی (kantar kertesi, “notch on the arm of a steelyard”)
• قنطار پاره‌سی (kantar parası, “fee paid to the weights inspector”)
• قنطارجی (kantarcı, “weights inspector”)
• قنطارلق (kantarlık, “rack where steelyards are kept”)
• قنطاره چكمك (kantara çekmek, “to weigh with a steelyard”)

Descendants

• Turkish: kantar
• → Albanian: kandar
• → Armenian: ղանթար (ġantʻar)
• → Belarusian: ка́нтар (kántar)
• → Bulgarian: кантар (kantar)
• → Byzantine Greek: καντάρι (kantári)
  • Greek: καντάρι (kantári)
    • → Albanian: kandar
    • → Aromanian: cãntare, cîntare, cîndare
• → Karaim: кантар, къантар
• → Macedonian: кантар (kantar)
• → Polish: kantar (obsolete)
  • → Ukrainian: ка́нтар (kántar)
• → Romanian: cântar
• → Russian: канта́рь (kantárʹ), конта́рь (kontárʹ), канта́р (kantár), ка́нтырь (kántyrʹ)
  • → Kazakh: кантар (kantar)
• → Serbo-Croatian: ка̀нта̄р/kàntār

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “kantar1”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 2390
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “قنطار”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 370b
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “قنطار”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2], Constantinople: Mihran, page 974
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Centenarium”, 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^[3], Vienna, column 168
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “قنطار”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 3769
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “kantar”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “قنطار”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1476

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic قِنْطَار (qinṭār), from Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον (kentēnárion), from Latin centēnārium (“hundredweight”).

Noun

قنطار • (qentâr) (plural قناطیر)

1. kantar
2. hundredweight, quintal