żarbun

Maltese

Etymology

From regional Arabic زَرْبُون (zarbūn), also زَرْبُول (zarbūl, “slipper, sandal, boot, stiletto”, etc., depending on dialect), from Ancient Greek σέρβουλα (sérboula, “shoe, buskin”), from Latin servulus, servula (“slave”) through some sort of figurative use. There is no relation with phonetically similar Italian scarpone (“boot”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zarˈbuːn/

Noun

żarbun m (collective, singulative żarbuna, plural żraben, paucal żarbuniet)

1. shoe(s)
   • 2022, Nadia Mifsud, meta tinfetaq il-folla, Ede Books, →ISBN:

     f’żarbun ġa ssikkat. irkiekel dahri
     tat-terrakotta － ’kk tmisshom,
     isiru frak. dil-belt tentakli waħedha －
     għoddha qalftitni fatat.

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Usage notes

• The collective chiefly means “a pair of shoes”. It can also mean “shoes” in general, for which the plural żraben is used alongside.