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
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