کمان

See also: كمان

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (kmʾn' /⁠kamān⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *kamān (“arc, vault, bow”), related to Proto-Iranian *kamp- (“to bend”), from Proto-Indo-European *kh₂em- (“to curve, bend”). Compare Northern Luri (kəmø).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ka.ˈmɑːn]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰä.mɑ́ːn]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [kʰä.mɑ́ːn]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [kʰä.mɔ́ːn]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰʲæ.mɒ́ːn]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰä.mɔ́n]

Readings
Classical reading^?	kamān
Dari reading^?	kamān
Iranian reading^?	kamân
Tajik reading^?	kamon

Noun


Iranian Persian	کمان
Dari	کمان
Tajik	камон

کَمان • (kamân) (plural کمان‌ها (kamân-hâ))

bow
- c. 1011, Abu'l-Qāsim Firdawsī, “The tale of Suhrāb”, in شاهنامه [Book of Kings]‎^[1]:
  به تیر و کمان و به گرز و کمند
  بیفگند بر دشت نخچیر چند
  ba tīr u kamān u ba gurz u kamand
  biyafgand bar dašt naxčīr čand
  With arrow and bow, with mace and lasso,
  He cast down a few prey on the plain.
  (Classical Persian romanization)
- c. 1100, anonymous author, فرامرزنامه [Book of Farāmarz]‎^[2]:
  دلاور سواران ایرانیان
  کمان بر زه و تنگ بسته میان
  dilāwar sawārān-i ērānīyān
  kamān bar zih u tang basta mīyān
  The valiant cavalry of the Iranians,
  Their bows strung and belts girdled tight […]
  (Classical Persian romanization)
- c. 1265, Jalāl al-Dīn Muḥammad Rūmī, فیه ما فیه [What Is In It Is In It]‎^[3]:
  اکنون آدمی در دستِ قبضهٔ قدرت حقّ همچون کمان است و حقّ تعالی او را در کارها مستعمل می‌کند و فاعل در حقیقت حق است نه کمان، کمان آلت است و واسطه است لیکن بی‌خبرست و غافل از حقّ جهت قوام دنیا، زهی عظیم کمانی که آگه شود که «‌من در دست کیستم‌!»
  aknūn ādamē dar dast-i qabza-yi qudrat-i haqq hamčūn kamān ast u haqq-i ta'ālā ō rā dar kār-hā musta'mal mē-kunad u fā'il dar haqīqat haqq ast na kamān, kamān ālat ast u wāsita ast lēkin bē-xabar-ast u ğāfil az haqq jihat-i qiwām-i dunyā, zihē azīm kamānē ki āgah šawad ki "man dar dast-i kī-stam!"
  Now, a man in the grip of God's power is just like a bow. God the Exalted makes use of him, and the agent is in truth God, not the bow. The bow is a tool and an implement, but it is unaware and ignorant of God due to the arrangement of this world. What a magnificent bow it would be if it were to become aware of whose hands it is in!
  (Classical Persian romanization)
arch
arc

Derived terms

رنگین‌کمان (rangin-kamân)
کماندار (kamândâr)
کمانه (kamâne)
کمانچه (kamânče)
کمانگیر (kamângir)

Descendants

→ Gujarati: કમાન (kamān)
→ Middle Armenian: քաման (kʻaman)
→ Ottoman Turkish: كمان (keman)
- Turkish: keman
- → Albanian: qemane
- → Armenian: քեման (kʻeman)
- → Northern Kurdish: keman
- → Romanian: cheman
→ Hindi: कमान (kamān)
→ Urdu: کمان (kamān)

References

Edelʹman, D. I. (2011) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 4, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 192

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian (kamān).

Pronunciation

(Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /kə.mɑːn/

Noun

کَمان • (kamān) f (Hindi spelling कमान)