Probably with an original meaning of ‘vagrant’, derived from
ⲥⲓⲛⲓ (sini,
“to pass by”) or its predecessors,
Demotic sny and
Egyptian (znj). Vycichl reconstructs an Egyptian predecessor
*znw derived from
znj.
ⲥⲟⲛⲓ • (soni) m (plural ⲥⲓⲛⲱⲟⲩⲓ (sinōoui) or ⲥⲟⲛⲓ (soni))
- (Bohairic) robber, thief
- Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 155
- Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 191
- Crum, Walter E. (1939) A Coptic Dictionary[1], Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 344