մուշայ

Armenian

Alternative forms

• մուշէյ (mušēy)

Etymology

From Russian мыше́й (myšéj), in Rostov dialect мыша́й (myšáj), perhaps via a Turkic language—compare Kumyk мушей (muşey), мушай (muşay), Urum мушай.

Noun

մուշայ • (mušay)

1. (Nor Nakhichevan) a kind of foxtail, Setaria, grazed by livestock

   Hypernym: խոզանուկ (xozanuk)

Further reading

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1925) Kʻnnutʻiwn Nor-Naxiǰewani (Xrimi) barbaṙi [Study of Nor Nakhichevan (Crimea) Dialect] (in Armenian), Yerevan, § 49, pages 61–62, rejecting the derivation from Old Armenian *մոշայ (*mošay), a supposed by-form of մոշ (moš, “bramble”), and suspecting a Turkic origin
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “մոշայ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press, page 346a, rejecting the derivation from Old Armenian *մոշայ (*mošay), a supposed by-form of մոշ (moš, “bramble”), and suspecting a Turkic origin
• J̌alašyan, Geworg (2012) “մուշայ”, in Nor Naxiǰewani barbaṙi bacʻatrakan baṙaran [Explanatory Dictionary of Nor Nakhichevan dialect]‎^[1] (in Armenian), Rostov-on-Don: Staryje russkije, →ISBN, page 187a, no etymology
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 473, seeking a relation with մոշ (moš), մոր (mor, “bramble”)