Trade, money & letters

carob

Carob is Aramaic/Syriac ḥarrūḇā, perhaps taken from Akkadian. Arabic kharrūb carried it all around the Mediterranean — to Maltese, Greek, Turkish, Catalan, Portuguese and, through Andalusian Arabic, Spanish algarroba — and into medieval Latin and French with the trade in locust-bean pods.

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

From Arabic to Andalusian Arabic, Spanish

From Arabic to Portuguese

From Arabic to Catalan

From Arabic to Maltese

From Arabic to Modern Greek

From Arabic to Ottoman Turkish, Turkish

From Medieval Latin to Italian

From Middle French to French

700 BCEAkkadian

Hops are evenly spaced; labels show the year each form is first attested.