# Arabic: zumo



## timon01

Hi,

I am trying to find the etymology of this word.  I found a source that says it comes from Arabic.  In Spanish *zumo* means juice.  Is there a word like _zum_ or something similar in Arabic? Possibly a word that is not used anymore?

Thank you


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## Arabus

Not in Modern Standard Arabic. I think it is an obsolete word. Perhaps it is still used somewhere, I don't know.


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## AndyRoo

Hi,

Arabic for juice is عصير `aSiir, and orange juice would be: `aSiiru ~l-burtuqaal. 

I wonder if `aSiiru became zumo?


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## Arabus

No. There was a word زوم in Midieval Arabic. They are not related.


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## AndyRoo

Ah yes زوم is in Hans Wehr meaning juice/sap


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## AndyRoo

al-Munjid dictionary says زوم is a colloquial word of Syriac origin.


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## Xence

Also, Al-Qamus Al-MuHiT gives this definition:



> والزَّوْمُ: طَعامٌ لأهلِ اليمنِ من اللَّبَنِ لذِيذٌ


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## timon01

Thank you guys so much! I am trying to show the influence Arabic had on the Spanish language.  The word zumo is the common word for juice in Spain.  I have read various sources saying it was derived from Arabic.  So it must be that the word is not used anymore in MSA.  

Thank you once again!


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## psxws

This is what RAE has to say, for what it's worth:

(Quizá del ár. hisp. *zúm, este del ár. zūm, y este del gr. ζωμός).

So yes, that would correspond with زوم but it traces it to Greek, not Syriac. I think it may be safer to trust al-Munjid more than RAE for dealing with Arabic etymology, though.


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## Arabus

When we say that an Arabic word came from Greek, we imply that it probably came through another language (Syriac, Perisan, etc.). Arabic words that directly come from Greek and Latin are rare (but they do exist).


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## jazyk

The Portuguese cognate, sumo, is said to come from Greek zomós.


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## ancalimon

I thought it could be related with "Sıkma, sığma and sağma" in Turkish and tried to explain those words before, but later thought that they could be "wild speculations".

Could zumo be related to SIKMA, SIĞMA, SAĞMA in Turkish?

Without explaining those words, we say "SIKMA MEYVE SUYU"  (squeezed or squashed fruit water or squeezed juice); (although a better translation would be: Fruit water that is the result of the action of squeezing, squashing)

For example "Sıkma Portakal" (squeezed Orange)


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## sokol

Yes, this is indeed a very wild speculation, based upon a chance coincidence between a modern Turkish phrase which hardly could be the source for the Spanish word.
While it seems the etymology of "zumo" in Spanish is not clearly established I guess RAE (quoted above already, see the link here) still is the best we've got here, tracing the word back to either Arabic or Greek.


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## Arabus

It comes from Greek via Arabic. This is not unusual at all.


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## origumi

Regarding the Greek origin - how did Greek broth or meat soup become Arabic fruit joice? Both are liquid and edible, but is this enough?


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## Outsider

jazyk said:


> The Portuguese cognate, sumo, is said to come from Greek zomós.


Brazilians are more likely to use the word *suco*, which is said to come straight from Latin *suc(c)us*.

I can't help wondering whether *sumo/zumo* isn't simply a modification of *suco*... although the spelling with a _z_ in Spanish (probably _ç_ in medieval Portuguese) remains intriguing.


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## artion

Certainly from the Greek ζωμός (zomos) = broth, juice. See μέλας ζωμός (black broth), Plutarch, Lycourgos, 12, the staple food of the ancient Spartans.


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## raamez

In Syrian Arabic زوم zuum for broth but also for dirty turbid water is still used.


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## Abaye

In Jewish Yemenite Arabic, زوم is kind of broth made of water, milk, flour, and sometimes other ingredients like dry bread, butter and سحوق. Is it usual for a Greek loanword to reach as far as Yemen?


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## djara

An aspect that seems to have been neglected is the influence of Berber on Iberian languages (Andalusian Arabic, Spanish, Portuguese). The berber root *zmy *is related to "pressing something to obtain juice". "izmi" is fruit juice
Source: Dictionnaire des racines berbères communes, Mohand Akli Haddadou.


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