ywc

Middle Persian

Etymology

Paul Horn connects with the Iranian source of Old Armenian յոյզ (yoyz, “seeking, searching; trouble, agitation”), յուզեմ (yuzem, “to seek, to search; to trouble, to agitate”), interpreting the original meaning of the animal's name as “the seeker”. Compare the simple verb یوختن (yuxtan)/یوزیدن (yuzidan, “to look for, to search for, to seek out”). It should be noted that formerly the cheetah was tamed by aristocrats and used to hunt antelopes in much the same way as is still done with members of the greyhound group of dogs; compare the names hunting leopard, hunting cat, Jagdleopard.

Cognate with Khwarezmian [script needed] (ywz, “cheetah”), Northern Kurdish osek (“panther”) and with the Iranian borrowings: Old Armenian յովազ (yovaz), յաւազ (yawaz), Georgian ავაზა (avaza), Classical Syriac ܝܘܙܐ (yōzāʾ, yawzāʾ).

Noun

ywc • (yōz)

1. cheetah

Descendants

• Persian: یوز (yuz)
  • → Central Kurdish: یووز (yûz, “small hunting dog”) (dialect of the Mokri tribe)
  • → Pashto: يوز m (yuz, “cheetah”)

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “yōz”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 97
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897) Armenische Grammatik. 1. Theil: Armenische Etymologie (in German), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, page 199
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “յովազ”, 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 407a
• Horn, Paul (1893) “yōz”, in Grundriss der neupersischen Etymologie (in German), Strasbourg: K.J. Trübner, § 1129, pages 252–253
• Edelʹman, D. I. (2011) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume IV, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 113
• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “یوزیدن”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press