Advertisement

Origin and history of Euphrates

Euphrates

Mesopotamian river, arising in Armenia and flowing to the Persian Gulf, Old English Eufrate, from Greek Euphrates, from Old Persian Ufratu, perhaps from Avestan huperethuua "good to cross over," from hu- "good" + peretu- "ford" (from PIE root *per- (2) "to lead, pass over"). But Kent says "probably a popular etymologizing in O.P. of a local non-Iranian name" ["Old Persian," p.176]. In Akkadian, purattu. Related: Euphratean.

Entries linking to Euphrates

*per-(2)

Proto-Indo-European root meaning "to lead, pass over." A verbal root associated with *per- (1), which forms prepositions and preverbs with the basic meaning "forward, through; in front of, before," etc.

It might form all or part of: aporia; asportation; comport; deport; disport; emporium; Euphrates; export; fare; farewell; fartlek; Ferdinand; fere; fern; ferry; firth; fjord; ford; Fuhrer; gaberdine; import; important; importune; opportune; opportunity; passport; porch; pore (n.) "minute opening;" port (n.1) "harbor;" port (n.2) "gateway, entrance;" port (n.3) "bearing, mien;" port (v.) "to carry;" portable; portage; portal; portcullis; porter (n.1) "person who carries;" porter (n.2) "doorkeeper, janitor;" portfolio; portico; portiere; purport; practical; rapport; report; sport; support; transport; warfare; wayfarer; welfare.

It might also be the source of: Sanskrit parayati "carries over;" Greek poros "journey, passage, way," peirein "to pierce, pass through, run through;" Latin portare "to carry," porta "gate, door," portus "port, harbor," originally "entrance, passage," peritus "experienced;" Avestan peretush "passage, ford, bridge;" Armenian hordan "go forward;" Old Welsh rit, Welsh rhyd "ford;" Old Church Slavonic pariti "to fly;" Old English faran "to go, journey," Old Norse fjörðr "inlet, estuary."

    Advertisement

    More to explore

    weeping
    The tree is native to Asia; the first brought to England were imported 1748, from the Euphrates....
    Hebrew
    Traditionally from an ancestral name Eber, but probably literally "one from the other side," perhaps in reference to the River Euphrates...
    Mesopotamia
    ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers north of Babylon (in modern Iraq), from Greek...
    antelope
    from Late Greek antholops (Eusebius of Antioch, c. 336 C.E.), in reference to a fabulous animal haunting the banks of the Euphrates...
    turkey
    1540s, originally "guinea fowl" (Numida meleagris), a bird imported from Madagascar via Turkey, and called guinea fowl when brought by Portuguese traders from West Africa. The larger North American bird (Meleagris gallopavo) was domesticated by the Aztecs, introduced to Spain by
    Iraq
    country name, 1920, from an Arabic name attested since 6c. for the region known in Greek as Mesopotamia; often said to be from Arabic `araqa, covering notions such as "perspiring, deeply rooted, well-watered," which may reflect the desert Arabs' impression of the lush river-land.
    sad
    Old English sæd "sated, full, having had one's fill (of food, drink, fighting, etc.), weary of," from Proto-Germanic *sathaz (source also of Old Norse saðr, Middle Dutch sat, Dutch zad, Old High German sat, German satt, Gothic saþs "satiated, sated, full"), from PIE *seto-, from
    feature
    early 14c., "make, form, fashion" (obsolete), from Anglo-French feture, from Old French faiture "deed, action; fashion, shape, form; countenance," from Latin factura "a formation, a working," from past participle stem of facere "make, do, perform" (from PIE root *dhe- "to set, pu
    destiny
    mid-14c., "fate, over-ruling necessity, the irresistible tendency of certain events to come about; inexorable force that shapes and controls lives and events;" also "that which is predetermined and sure to come true," from Old French destinée "purpose, intent, fate, destiny; that
    ace
    c. 1300, "one at dice," from Old French as "one at dice" (12c.), from Latin as "a unit, one, a whole, unity;" also the name of a small Roman coin (originally a rectangular bronze plaque weighing one pound, it eventually was reduced by depreciation to half an ounce; in imperial ti

    Share Euphrates

    Advertisement
    Trending
    Dictionary entries near Euphrates
    Advertisement