Vol. 09 · Loanwords ·Arabic ·1500s
Gauze
from qazz
- Meaning
- A light, loosely woven fabric.
- Source word
- qazz
- Route into English
- Uncertain, but likely Arabic *qazz* (raw silk), or from Gaza (the Palestinian city, a historical textile centre) → French *gaze* → English. Either path is Arabic-speaking in origin.
- Arrived
- 1500s
From Arabic
Science, trade, and the Mediterranean transit of Andalusian scholarship gave English its Arabic stratum — especially in maths, chemistry, and commerce. Many entered through Latin or Italian.
English borrows.
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