ĭḫtiyār اخْتِيار , pl. ‑iyyaẗ , (Ir., Lev.), also ḫityār , pl. ‑iyyaẗ
ID – • Sw – • BP … • APD … • © SG | 15Feb2021
√ḪYR
adj./n., 1 ↗ḫayr. – 2, adj., old; n., old man; elder, senior person in a community – WehrCowan1979.
▪ Ultimately, the word belongs to the complex treated under ↗ḫayr, from Sem *ḪYR ‘to choose, prefer’. More specifically, it is the genuine Ar vn. VIII ĭḫtiyār (from ĭḫtāra, vb. VIII, ‘to choose, make one’s choice; to select, elect, pick; to prefer’) loaned into Tu as ihtiyar. In Tu, the sense of ‘(knowing how) to make the right choice, choose the best’ was transferred on the experienced usually elderly persons who had this quality, and was then generalized, coming to mean ‘aged, old’. As such, the word was loaned back into Ar in areas under Ottoman influence.
▪ According to Nişanyan (29Dec2014), the word is first attested in OttTu in Meninski, Thesaurus, 1680.
▪ For the complex ‘to choose, prefer, etc.’ to which the item belongs, see ↗ḫayr.
▪ For the complex ‘to choose, prefer, etc.’ to which the item belongs, see ↗ḫayr.
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