بالابان

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• بلابان (balaban)

Etymology

According to Nishanyan, a vulgarized form of Persian پهلوان (pahlevân, “hero, paladin; wrestler”), but compare Crimean Tatar balaban, Karaim балабан and Urum балабан. Doublet of پهلوان (pehlivân, “oil wrestler”).

Adjective

بالابان • (balaban)

1. large, great, big, huge, of relatively great size or extent

   Synonyms: اولو (ulu), ایری (iri), بیوك (büyük), قوجه (koca)

Noun

بالابان • (balaban)

1. giant, colossus, any abnormally huge person or animal
2. goshawk, any of several birds of prey, principally in the genus Accipiter
3. sort of very large drum
4. tame bear

Derived terms

• بالابانلانمق (balabanlanmak, “to become large, huge”)

 

Descendants

• Turkish: balaban
• → Armenian: պալապան (palapan)
• → Macedonian: балабан (balaban)

Further reading

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881) “بالابان”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 276
• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “بلابان”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 124a
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “بالابان”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2], Constantinople: Mihran, page 246
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Immensus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[3], Vienna, column 737
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “بلابان”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 870
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “balaban”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “بالابان”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 333