قواس

Arabic

Etymology

Root
ق و س (q w s)
4 terms

Occupational noun of قَوْس (qaws, “bow”). The sense of a consular guard is a semantic loan from Ottoman Turkish قواس (kavvas).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qaw.waːs/

Noun

قَوَّاس • (qawwās) m

1. archer, he who is equipped with a bow
2. bow-maker or seller; archetier
3. kavass, consular guard, one who provides safety to foreign diplomats on travel

Declension

Declension of noun قَوَّاس (qawwās)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	قَوَّاس qawwās	الْقَوَّاس al-qawwās	قَوَّاس qawwās
nominative	قَوَّاسٌ qawwāsun	الْقَوَّاسُ al-qawwāsu	قَوَّاسُ qawwāsu
accusative	قَوَّاسًا qawwāsan	الْقَوَّاسَ al-qawwāsa	قَوَّاسَ qawwāsa
genitive	قَوَّاسٍ qawwāsin	الْقَوَّاسِ al-qawwāsi	قَوَّاسِ qawwāsi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	قَوَّاسَيْن qawwāsayn	الْقَوَّاسَيْن al-qawwāsayn	قَوَّاسَيْ qawwāsay
nominative	قَوَّاسَانِ qawwāsāni	الْقَوَّاسَانِ al-qawwāsāni	قَوَّاسَا qawwāsā
accusative	قَوَّاسَيْنِ qawwāsayni	الْقَوَّاسَيْنِ al-qawwāsayni	قَوَّاسَيْ qawwāsay
genitive	قَوَّاسَيْنِ qawwāsayni	الْقَوَّاسَيْنِ al-qawwāsayni	قَوَّاسَيْ qawwāsay
plural	sound masculine plural
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	قَوَّاسِين qawwāsīn	الْقَوَّاسِين al-qawwāsīn	قَوَّاسِي qawwāsī
nominative	قَوَّاسُونَ qawwāsūna	الْقَوَّاسُونَ al-qawwāsūna	قَوَّاسُو qawwāsū
accusative	قَوَّاسِينَ qawwāsīna	الْقَوَّاسِينَ al-qawwāsīna	قَوَّاسِي qawwāsī
genitive	قَوَّاسِينَ qawwāsīna	الْقَوَّاسِينَ al-qawwāsīna	قَوَّاسِي qawwāsī

Ottoman Turkish

Alternative forms

• قواص (kavvas), قاواص (kavvas).

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic قَوَّاس (qawwās).

Noun

قواس • (kavvas)

1. archer
2. guard, patrol, watchman, doorkeeper, police
3. guard, one who provides safety to a traveller (in the end especially to a diplomat)
4. messenger, emissary

Descendants

• Turkish: kavas
• → Arabic: قَوَّاس (qawwās) (semantic loan)
• → Albanian: kafaz, gavas, kavas, kavaz, kafas — archaic
• → Armenian: խավազ (xavaz)
• → Aromanian: cavaz, cafas, gãvaz
• → Bulgarian: кава́з (kaváz), гава́з (gaváz), кава́с (kavás), гава́зин (gavázin)
• → English: kavass, cavass, kavas
• → Macedonian: каваз (kavaz)
• → Romanian: cavas
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: каваз

  Latin script: kavaz

• → Turkish: kavvâs

References

• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “قواس”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 974b
• Miklosich, Franz (1884) Die türkischen Elemente in den südost- und osteuropäischen Sprachen (Denkschriften der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Classe)‎^[2] (in German), volume 34, Wien: In Commission bei Carl Gerold’s Sohn