ዝፍት

Amharic

Etymology

Of uncertain ultimate origin; in view of the old rarity of the Geʿez term arguably borrowed from Arabic زِفْت (zift).

Noun

ዝፍት • (zəft)

1. pitch, tar, asphalt
   • 1962, Amharic Bible, Isaiah 34:9:

     የኤዶምያስም ፈሳሾች ዝፍት ሆነው ይለወጣሉ፥ አፈርዋም ዲን ይሆናል፥ መሬትዋም የሚቀጠል ዝፍት ትሆናለች።

     yäʾedomyasm fäsašoč zəft honäw yəläwäṭalu: ʾäfärwam din yəhonal: märetwam yämiḳäṭäl zəft təhonaläč.

     Edom’s streams shall be turned into pitch, And its dust into brimstone; Its land shall become burning oil.

Ge'ez

Etymology

Of uncertain ultimate origin; rare, perhaps borrowed from Arabic زِفْت (zift).

Noun

ዝፍት • (zəft)

1. pitch, tar, latex, even resin of a pine as well as asphalt

   Synonyms: ፒሳ / ፔሳ (pisa / pesa), ቅጥራን (ḳəṭran), ቃር (ḳar)

References

• Dillmann, August (1865) “ዝፍት”, in Lexicon linguae aethiopicae cum indice latino (in Latin), Leipzig: T. O. Weigel, columns 1068–1069
• Kogan, Leonid (2019) “Additions and Corrections to Wolf Leslau's Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (1987–2017)”, in Journal of the American Oriental Society, volume 139, number 4, →DOI, page 903 to 632
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) “ዝፍት”, in Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 632b