nyšʾn'

Middle Persian

Alternative forms

• 𐫗𐫏𐫢𐫀𐫗 (nyšʾn /⁠nīšān⁠/)

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *ni- + Proto-Iranian *yaš- (“to show, appear”), with further connections outside of Indo-Iranian uncertain. Not from Proto-Indo-European *h₃ekʷ- (“to see”), despite superficial phonetic and semantic similarity. Compare Sanskrit यक्ष (yakṣa, “spiritual apparition”).

Noun

nyšʾn' • (nīšān)

1. mark, sign
2. banner

Descendants

• Classical Persian: نِشَان (nišān), نِیشَان (nīšān) (see there for further descendants)

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “nīšān”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
• Cheung, Johnny (2007) Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 213-214