Abnus
Abnus arabice ebanus arbor cuius lignum est interius nigrum extra vero subalbidum notum.
Apparatus:
arabice | aut f
ebanus (-us B) ABCH | ebenus (-us fjp) efjp
notum | et est notum f | notum est H
Translation:
Abnus is Arabic for the ebanus {"ebony"} tree of which the wood is black on the inside and whitish on the outside.
Commentary:
Cf. Wehr (1985): ﺍﺑﻧﻮﺱ /abnūs/ "ebony".
Siggel (1950: 11): ﺍﺑﻧﻮﺱ /abanūs/ Diospyros ebenum (Sapetac.) Ebenholz {i.e. "ebony"}; Dalbergia melanoxylon G.R.R. (Leg.); ἔβενος /ébenos/.
More traditional Latin has (h)ebenus "the ebon-tree, ebony", a word taken over from Greek ἔβενος/ ἕβενος /(h)ébenos/ id.
The Arabic word /abnūs/ is itself a loan from the Greek word ébenos, but /abnūs/ did supply the basis for some early loans in e.g. Povençal avenutz, Catalan banús {IPA [bə'nus]} and older Spanish/Portuguese abenuz.
WilfGunther (talk) 11:16, 28 December 2015 (GMT)
See also: Ebenus
