Arabic exportsFood & drink

spinach

Spinach was first grown in Persia; its Persian name went into Arabic and, through al-Andalus, into Occitan, French and English, and Latin spina 'thorn' later reshaped the word. Ottoman Turkish carried it to the Balkans, Byzantine Greek to Greece, and German Spinat on to Poland, Bohemia and Russia.

Weakest linkPossible

The road to English

From Persian to Ottoman Turkish, Turkish

From Ottoman Turkish to Bulgarian

From Ottoman Turkish to Serbo-Croatian

From Persian to Byzantine Greek, Modern Greek

From Arabic to Portuguese

From Arabic to Medieval Latin, Italian, German

From German to Polish

From German to Russian

From German to Czech

From Old French to French

From Arabic to Old Spanish, Spanish

900 CEPersian

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