Bibliotheca Polyglotta

DRS 2 (1994)#BṢR-6 baṣr ‘terrain calcaire’. Cf. also (Lane:) ^†baṣraẗ ‘soft stones, rugged ground, land that is as though it were a mountain of gypsum’

▪ If S.H. Longrikk (art. »al-Baṣra«, in EI²) is right and the name of the city is »probably derived from the nature of the soil«, then one would have to see it together with ClassAr ^†baṣraẗ ‘soft stones, rugged ground, land that is as though it were a mountain of gypsum’ and/or ʔarḍ baṣiraẗ ‘land in which are stones that cut the hoofs of beasts’ (Lane).
▪ The value ‘terrain calcaire’ is listed in DRS 2 (1994) as #BṢR-6, but without mentioning Basra.
▪ Popular etymology explains the name as ‘the over-watching’, ‘the one seeing everything’ (from ↗baṣ˅ra ‘to see’). On the Internet, other etymologies can be found (from an allegedly Pers bas-rāh [sic!] ‘where many paths meet’, ‘where many ways come together’, or allegedly Aram basratha [sic!] ‘place of huts, settlement’ – e.g., en.wiki). None of these are reliable.
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BṢL بصل

√BṢL

“root”

▪ BṢL_1 ‘onion’ ↗baṣal
▪ BṢL_2 ‘compass’ ↗būṣalaẗ

♦ Semantic value spectrum in ClassAr (acc. to BAH2008): ‘onion, multi-layered’

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▪ DRS 2 (1994) #BṢL, 1 Aram bᵊṣal ‘peler, fendre’; Ar baṣṣala ‘peler’; Gz baṣṣala ‘déchirer’. 2 Akk bisr-, bišr- ‘poireau’; Hbr (pl.) bᵊṣālīm, JP buṣlā, baṣlā, Syr beṣlā, Ar baṣal, SAr Soq bṣl, biṣle, Mhr beṣalôt, Gz baṣal, Te bäṣäl ‘oignon’. -3 Soq beṣílleh ‘huile rosat’. -4 Te (tə)bäṣṣälä ‘se fatiguer de’, bəṣṣul ‘dégoûté, paresseux’. -5 Akk baṣillat-: instrument de musique.
▪ BṢL_1: Outside Sem, Borg2021#38 (b-ṣ-l) compares Dem mḏ(w)l ‘onion’ (DG 195) ~ Copt ⲙϫⲱⲗ/ⲉⲙϫⲱⲗ ‘onion’ (Crum 1939: 213b)).
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