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zenith

Arabic astronomers called the point overhead samt ar-raʾs, 'the direction of the head'. A Latin scribe probably misread the m of samt as ni, and the slip became the European word zenith, while in Persian samt is still 'direction' and in Turkish semt became a city neighbourhood.

Weakest linkCertain

The road to English

From Medieval Latin to Old French, Middle French, French, Russian

From Medieval Latin to Spanish

From Arabic to Ottoman Turkish, Turkish

From Medieval Latin to Italian

From Medieval Latin to Portuguese

From Medieval Latin to German

From Arabic to Persian

850 CEArabic

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

The road to English

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