# star



## DonManuel_CH

Hello my friends from all around the world!
How do you call the stars (in the sky) in your language?

I begin with:

English: star
Deutsch: Stern (m)
Swiss German: Stärn (m)


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## parakseno

Romanian:
stea (feminine)

There also is "astru"(neuter, with the plural "astre", or masculine, with the plural "aştri") but it has a more general meaning (that is any celestial body that can be observed by the light it emits or reflects).


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## Aurin

Spanish:
estrella (f) or astro (m)


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## Maja

In Serbian:

*zvezda* (Cyrillic: *звезда*)


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## Outsider

Portuguese: *estrela*.


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## elroy

Arabic: نجمة (_najma_)


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## mimi2

In Vietnamese*: ngôi sao*


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## irene.acler

In *Italian*: stella o astro.


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## Lemminkäinen

Norwegian: *stjerne* (f) in nynorsk, (f/m) in bokmål
French: *étoile* (f)
Russian: *звезда*, zvezda (f)


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## badgrammar

Turkish
Yildiz = star
Yildizlar = stars

French:  étoile = star
étoiles = stars


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## tanzhang

In Tagalog:

Star - bituin
Stars - mga bituin


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## Setwale_Charm

Chechen: Seda
 Cornish: Steren


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## Alijsh

Persian: setâre


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## gao_yixing

Chinese:星星(xīng xing)


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## Flaminius

Japanese:
星 (hoshi)


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## Billopoulos

Greek:

αστέρι


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## Ilmo

*Finnish:*
Tähti

*Swedish:*
Stjärna


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## .Lola.

*Czech:*
hvězda

*Slovak:*
hviezda

*Hebrew:*
כוכב (kokhav)


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## zaigucis

*Latvian: *zvaigzne (f)


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## Spectre scolaire

Classical Greek: αστήρ. I can’t make the _spiritus lenis_ on the alpha.

There is also – cf. _Billopoulos_ αστέρι – a Modern Greek word άστρο (from Class. Gr. άστρον, equally with a _spiritus lenis_).

Latin (and Italian): stella

In connection with Turkish yıldız (as mentionned by _badgrammar_, the following could be added:

Tatar (a _Turkic_ language): чулпан. I don’t know any Tatar, but there is a famous Russian actress of Tatar origin, born in Kazan and whose first name is Chulpan, “morning star”.


			
				elroy said:
			
		

> Arabic:
> نجمة (_najma_)


Necmî is a man’s name in Turkish. Turks of today don’t know the Ottoman word _necm_, “star”.


			
				Alijsh said:
			
		

> Persian: setâre


Ottoman Turkish: sitare, “star”. Today, this word _only_ means “fortune”, “a kind of lute” and “a type of backgammon play”. It doesn't seem likely that the last two meanings have anything to do with the Persian word for "star", but I wouldn’t be surprised if they have.

There is much more under the stars...


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## ronanpoirier

Hungarian: Csillág


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## Chazzwozzer

Spectre scolaire said:


> Ottoman Turkish: sitare, “star”. Today, this word _only_ means “fortune”, “a kind of lute” and “a type of backgammon play”. It doesn't seem likely that the last two meanings have anything to do with the Persian word for "star", but I wouldn’t be surprised if they have.


Only context I might expect to see sitare is in a poem or a song where it may normally mean star, as a Persian loan-word.

Sorry but; unless used somehow metaphorically, sitare does not mean anything else you've mentioned. Just to make it sure, I've just done some dictionary and Google searches but nothing seems to appear.


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## Lillita

ronanpoirier said:


> Hungarian: Csillág


 
Without accent. 
*Hungarian:* csillag


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## Alijsh

Spectre scolaire said:


> Ottoman Turkish: sitare, “star”. Today, this word _only_ means “fortune”, “a kind of lute” and “a type of backgammon play”. It doesn't seem likely that the last two meanings have anything to do with the Persian word for "star", but I wouldn’t be surprised if they have.


 
It can mean *fortune* in Persian poetry. The word for the lute-like instrument is *setâr* (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Setar_%28lute%29) and not *setâre*.


[Added later]
We have also these words for star: *akhtar* (cognate with astr- and used in building new words), *târâ*


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## Setwale_Charm

*Turkmen*: yyldyz
*Tajik*: sitora
*Maltese*: kawkba


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## Spectre scolaire

Chazzwozzer said:
			
		

> Sorry but; unless used somehow metaphorically, sitare does not mean anything else you've mentioned. Just to make it sure, I've just done some dictionary and Google searches but nothing seems to appear.


Did you look it up in Redhouse, Devellioğlu or Derleme Sözlüğü? –the last one is a dictionary of dialect words in more than 20 volumes! I don’t have my library with me where I am now, but I have gained access to Redhouse which even registers the meaning “open tent or pavillion”. Not likely that the British author invented it in the 1880s! 

*!!* There is a misunderstanding (which I created myself). Instead of italics, the word *only* should have been put in inverted comma to indicate an irony – i.e. one word with so many different meanings! I am sorry for that!

If you google _sitare*li*_ and _sitare*siz*_, you’ll get some results. From “star” to “fortune” would be a fairly normal semantic development. With the indicated suffixes in bold we would get “fortunate” and “unlucky” – _born under a lucky/unlucky star,_ so to say. 


			
				Alijsh said:
			
		

> It can mean *fortune* in Persian poetry. The word for the lute-like instrument is *setâr* [...] and not *setâre*.


There is reason to believe that the words for the instrument and the original one meaning “star” have blended in Turkish. Persian [e] regularly becomes Turkish [i], and [a] becomes [e] (as below).



			
				Setwale_Charm said:
			
		

> *Tajik*: sitora


Thanks for that one! The reason why it is written with *o* in Tajiki is that the Iranian a in setâre is long and pronounced – at least in Tajiki - as [o], cf. Swedish /a/ which is also extrememly open. Cyrillic letters are better indicators of the real pronunciation than Arabic letters.


			
				Alijsh said:
			
		

> We have also these words for star: *akhtar* [and] *târâ*.


Indeed! But Ottoman Turkish aht*e*r (sic because the second original a is short!) does not function as a word in Modern Turkish. 

Also this word has two meanings in Ottoman Turkish: “star” and “fortune”. This is probably not unusual in other languages as well!

Persian târâ does not seem to have any corresponding word in [Ottoman] Turkish.

To finish, I’d like to add the Maltese word for “star”: stilla – which is of course a loanword from Italian (or rather from Siculo-Italian).


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## Thomas1

In Polish:
_gwiazda_


Tom


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## Frank06

Dutch: ster


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## Setwale_Charm

*Nauruan*: edetan
*Gilbertese*: toui toui
*Rapanui*: hetu`u
*Fijian*: kalo kalo


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## coconutpalm

星辰xing1 chen2
星斗xing1 dou3
These are more literal words.


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## Setwale_Charm

Estonian: täht
Veps: tähtaz
Belarusian: zorka


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## spakh

In Kurdish :stêr


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## Setwale_Charm

spakh said:


> In Kurdish :stêr


 
Interesting to note how close it is to the Germanic and Cornish versions.


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## suslik

In Estonian: täht


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## Mac_Linguist

In Macedonian:

Star - *Ѕвезда*


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## Nizo

parakseno said:


> Romanian:
> stea (feminine)
> 
> There also is "astru"(neuter) but it has a more general meaning (that is any celestial body that can be observed by the light it emits or reflects).


Likewise in *Esperanto*, _stelo_ is the primary word for _star_, while _astro_ is used for any natural heavenly body, such as a star, a comet or a planet.


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## nagusi

Hi,

Basque=Izar


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## deine

Lithuanian:

žvaigždė


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## macta123

In Hindi : Tara OR Sitara
In Malayalam : Nakshatram


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## pistakee

Fang (Guinea Ecuatorial, Africa) - atiteñ, metiteñ (p)


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## pistakee

Sorry, I had the sing. and plural mixed up in Fang. It should be "otiteñ" and "atiteñ".


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## quasiluso

ronanpoirier said:


> Hungarian: Csillág


isso é *csillag* e nao csillág!!!


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## theo1006

Indonesian: bintang
Sranantongo (Suriname): stari; also stèr, which is from Dutch


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## Lugubert

If you'll excuse some examples not from my language:
Sanskrit तांरा तारका तारिका नक्षत्रं tAMrA, tArakA, tArikA, nakshatraM ...
Arabic نجم najm
Bible Hebrew כּוֹכָב koxav
Ugaritic kbkb


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## HistofEng

In Haitian-Creole:

star = _*zetwal*_


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## betulina

In Catalan it is *estrella* or *estel*.


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## olimolimil

In Basque (Euskera, from the Basque Country)

IZARRA


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## michimz

*Nahuatl:*
Sitalij (Plural:Sitalimej)
(The accent is pronouned on the penultimate syllable.)


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## Kurdistanish

Kurdish
Kurmancî : *stêr*
Soranî : *estêre*
Hewramî, Kirmanckî : *estare*

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Gilaki : *rijikâ*

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Talyshi : *âstâra*

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Beside “*najm*” also there exists “*kawkab*” ( > plural. *kawakib*) in Arabic.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Persian : *setâre, axtar* (archaic)

Maltese *kawkba* is probably an Arabic loanword.


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## kusurija

Latin: Astra


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## jaxlarus

(Western) Armenian - but most probably Eastern Armenian as well: 
*աստղ* pronounced asdgh (gh = ɣ, Spanish a*g*ua)​


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## jana.bo99

Slovenian:  Zvezda

Croatian:   Zvijezda


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## Ellis

Azeri: ulduz


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## Ellis

jaxlarus said:


> (Western) Armenian - but most probably Eastern Armenian as well:
> *աստղ* pronounced asdgh (gh = ɣ, Spanish a*g*ua)​


Eastern Armenian pronunciation is _as*t*gh_.


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## jaxlarus

Ellis said:


> Eastern Armenian pronunciation is _as*t*gh_.




I mostly meant the way it's written. 

Sure, *տ* = *d* (WA), *t* (EA).

Cheers!


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## mkh

Per. ستاره (setareh)
Per. اختر (akhtar) {اپاختر (ap-akhtar) = planet}
َAr. نجم (najm)
Ar. کوکب (kawkab)
any language : www(dot)websters-online-dictionary.org/definition/star


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## Consimmer

In Malay and Indonesian, _bintang_ (singular) and _bintang-bintang _(plural).

Compare to:



tanzhang said:


> In Tagalog:
> 
> Star - bituin
> Stars - mga bituin


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## Spectre scolaire

Kurdistanish said:


> Maltese *kawkba* is probably an Arabic loanword.


I wonder where you got that one – Maltese kawkba means “mahogany”! 

If you mean ‘Arabic loanword in Maltese’, I don't understand - Maltese _is_ basically ‘Arabic’ (or ‘Semitic’, as the Maltese themselves like to call their language ). But if you mean ‘a loan word in Arabic’, I concur with you. I’d suggest Hausa, but this is only a cultural guess.  _Anyway, we shouldn't loose our thread!_

“Star” in Maltese is *stilla*  – see my posting #26 (last sentence).
 ​


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## Orreaga

Navajo: sǫ'


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## knight_2004

Arabic:
(نجم) Najm = Star
(كوكب) Kawkab = Planet

If you are going to use the word "star" to describe a female as in "movie star" then use "Najma" (f).


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## ssala

In Pashto:

Star= ستوری (stoorai)


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## MarX

In Indonesian:

*bintang*


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## Saluton

Ukrainian: *зiрка* (zeerka)


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## apmoy70

Billopoulos said:


> Greek:
> 
> αστέρι..


...which is the colloquial name for star, from the Byz. Gr. neuter diminutive *«ἀστέρι(ο)ν» astéri(o)n* of the Classical 3rd declension masc. *«ἀστήρ» ăstḗr* (nom. sing.), *«ἀστέρος» ăstérŏs* (gen. sing.), which has also produced the formal MoGr masc. *«ἀστέρας»* [aˈste.ɾas] (PIE *h₂ster- _star_ cf Skt. तारा (tārā) -the absence of the _s-_ is unexplained- Hitt. ḫasterza, Av. stār-əm, ToA śre/ToB ścirye, Lat. stēlla < *stēr-lā, Proto-Germanic *sternǭ, Arm. աստղ (astł)).


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## oveka

Ukrainian: зоря, зірка, зірниця, (_archaic_) звізда


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## Lorenc

oveka said:


> Ukrainian: зоря, зірка, зірниця, (_archaic_) звізда



I'm wondering about the etymology of зор*я*, з*і*рка and зірн*и*ця, as they seem to be different from the name for 'star' in most other Slavic languages (Russian звезд*а*, etc.).
I guess that зор*я* is cognate to Russian зар*я* (=dawn, daybreak, aurora; Nom. Pl. з*о*ри) and with Polish zorza (same meaning as Rus.). I'm not too sure concerning з*і*рка/зірн*и*ця, they may be derivative diminutives of зор*я* (comp. Russian з*о*рька, dawn, daybreak, aurora), with the о->і mutation typical of Ukrainian; Russian also has the adjective з*о*ркий  'sharp-eyed' but I don't know whether it's etymological related to the other words mentioned.

p.s.
According to Wiktionary з*о*ркий is derived from the verb зреть 'to behold, to gaze, to watch' (there exist also a separate meaning 'to ripen'), which also gave origin to several other words such as зр*е*ние 'eyesight, vision', зрач*о*к 'pupil', зен*и*ца 'pupil _(obsolete)_', з*е*нки 'eyes _(coll.)_'; the same root is present in many Polish words too, such as wzrok 'eyesight', źrenica 'pupil (of the eye); eye _(obs.)_', ujrzeć 'to see, to behold'. Anyway, I don't know if the root of зреть is also at the origin of Ukrainian зірка/зірниця.


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## oveka

Expression examples:
вечірня (вечерова) зоря - evening Star
вечірня зірниця - evening Star
першорядна зоря - Star of the first magnitude
провідна зірка - Guiding star
п’ятикутна зірка - Five pointed star


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## bibax

The Ukrainian *зоря/зірка* are not related to the Protoslavic verb _zьrěti_ (root zьr-/zer-/zor- > зреть, zříti, zrieť, etc. > зрение, надзор, zrak, zornice, dozor, wzrok, etc.). They are cognate to OCS зарѩ/зорѩ, Rus. заря/зоря, Cz. záře/zoře (= aurora, dawn, shine), etc.

Note: the similar Protoslavic verb meaning _to ripen_ is conjugated differently (in Czech: zříti vs. zráti), but not in Russian (зреть/зреть are perfectly homonymous).

In Czech, besides *hvězda* (< PSl. *gvězda), we use also a relatively new word *stálice* (< státi = to stand), it means _fixed star_ (Sirius je stálice), also used figuratively (Madonna je stálice). The starfish is *hvězdice* (an artificially invented term).

Btw, *here* is an interesting map.


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## Circunflejo

Aurin said:


> Spanish:
> estrella (f) or astro (m)



Lucero (m) may be another option on some contexts.


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## Lorenc

bibax said:


> The Ukrainian *зоря/зірка* are not related to the Protoslavic verb _zьrěti_ [...]. They are cognate to OCS зарѩ/зорѩ, Rus. заря/зоря [...]
> Btw, *here* is an interesting map.



Thanks! So з*і*рка/зірн*и*ця can be taken to be derived/diminutive forms of зор*я* ? BTW in the old (1927) Polish etymological dictionary by Brückner the word 'zorza' seems to be lumped together with words (such as dozór _supervision_, dozorca _watchman_, nadzór _supervision_, pozór _appearance_) which rather clearly derive from the root _zьrěti._
The Polish Etymological dictionary by Boryś (2005) (which I didn't have near at hand earlier) seemingly agrees and states explicitly that Polish zorza comes from proto-Slavic _zьrěti_; furthermore it also says (lemma _spojrzeć_) (I'll translate from Polish):
QUOTE:
The basic verb _zьrěti_ is related, for example, with Lithuanian žėrėti 'to glow, to shine', old High-German grāo, German grau 'grey', old Irish grían 'sun', from proto-Indoeuropean gher(ə) 'to glow, to shine'
UNQUOTE

This seems to suggest that OCS зарѩ/зорѩ is etymologically related to proto-Slavic zьrěti and both derive from the proto-Indoeuropean root given above.


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## bibax

In Machek's _Etymologický slovník jazyka českého_ the words *záře*/*zoře* (OCS зарѩ/зорѩ < *zar-ja) and *zříti* (OCz. zřieti < *zьr-ě-ti) are listed separately, *záře* is related to Lith. *žėrėti* and *žėruoti*, *zříti* is related to Lith. *žiūrėti*. Machek explicitly excluded any connection between them two.

žėrėti = to shine, sparkle, twinkle; to burn;
žėruoti = to shine, glitter, sparkle, twinkle, glare;
vs.
žiūrėti = to look at, e.g. žiūrėti televizorių = to watch television;

The Czech word *zornice* (= pupil, _a black hole that doesn't shine_; < zříti, grade zor-) and the Ukrainian word *зірниця* (= star, _a shining object_; < зоря) look similar (both have the same suffix), but they are derived from different words, even if we admit an ancient connection between *zarja and *zьrěti, i.e. between to shine/glare and to look/watch.

A hypothetical Czech cognate to Ukrainian *зірниця* could be *zářice (< zářiti _'to shine'_, like stálice _'fixed star'_ < státi _'to stand'_) or zářivka, however zářivka already has a modern meaning _fluorescent lamp/tube_.


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## Lorenc

bibax said:


> In Machek's _Etymologický slovník jazyka českého_ the words *záře*/*zoře* (OCS зарѩ/зорѩ < *zar-ja) and *zříti* (OCz. zřieti < *zьr-ě-ti) are listed separately, *záře* is related to Lith. *žėrėti* and *žėruoti*, *zříti* is related to Lith. *žiūrėti*. Machek explicitly excluded any connection between them two.



Thanks! I'll just mention that Wikitionary on the etymology of 'gray' says that it comes from PIE ǵhreh 'to green, to grow'  [perhaps a typo and it should be 'to glow'?] and lists as related OCS зьрѭ 'to see', Russian зреть and Lithuanian žeriù 'to shine'. I don't know where the etymological information of Wikitionary ultimately comes from. On the other hand the 'Online etymology dictionary' (I haven't checked its ultimate source) for 'gray' says that it has 'no certain connections outside Germanic.' So the whole situation is unclear. I think it is safe to say that at the proto-Slavic stage (~500 CE) the 'to glow' and 'to see' roots were definitely separate, and with less certainty they were so at the proto Balto-Slavic one (~?1000 BCE).


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## AndrasBP

*Georgian*: ვარსკვლავი /varskvlavi/
Nice cluster of 5 consonants in the middle.


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## Ífaradà

In Yoruba:* Ìràwọ̀*


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