What Greek Words Come from Persian?
A substantial number, ranging from paradeisos (paradise) and magos (magician) to satrap (provincial governor) and kithara (lyre), and including a long tail of less famous borrowings for plants, materials, and musical instruments. The study of these loanwords, which has been pursued by scholars such as Émile Benveniste, Rüdiger Schmitt, Nicholas Sims-Williams, and Michael Meier-Brügger, has illuminated the deep history of cultural contact between the Persian and Greek worlds. The subject is part of the broader treatment in the Persian Influence on Greece cluster and the Persian Legacy and Influence pillar.
The Persian loanwords in Greek entered the language in several distinct phases. The earliest borrowings, including some of the words for plants, animals, and material objects, may have entered Greek before the Achaemenid period, in the early first millennium BCE, when the Greek and Iranian worlds were already in contact. A larger wave of borrowings occurred in the Achaemenid period (550–330 BCE), when the Greek cities of Ionia, the Aeolid, and the European Thracian coast were members of the Persian Empire or under heavy Persian influence. A final wave of borrowings occurred in the Hellenistic and Roman periods, when the Greek and Persian worlds were united in the Hellenistic monarchies and the Roman Empire, and when Greek was the language of administration and high culture across the eastern Mediterranean.
Paradeisos — Paradise
The word paradeisos (παράδεισος), the most famous of the Persian loanwords in Greek, entered the language in the fifth century BCE. The Old Persian pairidaeza, from the prefix pairi (around) and the verb daiž (to build, to make), referred to an enclosed park or garden, and the Greek paradeisos was used to translate the concept of the Persian royal garden. The Greek historian Xenophon, who had served in the army of Cyrus the Younger, used the word paradeisos to describe the great parks of the Persian kings, and the word entered the Greek vocabulary as a term for an enclosed garden of any kind.
The Greek paradeisos entered Latin as paradisus, and from Latin it entered most European languages. The English word paradise comes from this Latin word, and the word is used in English, French, German, Italian, Spanish, and other European languages to refer to the garden of Eden, the heavenly reward of the righteous, and, by extension, any place of bliss or delight. In Christian, Jewish, and Islamic theology, paradise is the place where the righteous enjoy the presence of God after death, and the word is also used more generally to refer to any ideal or perfect place.
Magos — Magician
The word magos (μάγος), another major Persian loanword, entered Greek in the sixth century BCE. The Old Persian magush (Median maguš) referred to a member of the Median priestly class, the Magi, who were the priests of Zoroastrianism in the Achaemenid period. The Greek magos originally referred to a Median or Persian priest, then to a magician, an astrologer, and a member of a religious mystery. The Greek historian Herodotus used the word magos to refer to the Median priestly class, and the word was used by later Greek writers to refer to practitioners of magic and astrology.
The Greek magos entered Latin as magus, and the English words magic, magician, and magus are all derived from it. The word magic refers to the practice of using supernatural powers to influence events, the word magician refers to a person who practises magic, and the word magus is used in English to refer to a member of the Persian priestly class or, more generally, to a wise man or a magician. The Magi of the Gospel of Matthew, the wise men who came from the East to worship the infant Jesus, are described in the Greek New Testament as magoi, and the English word Magi is a direct borrowing from this Greek term.
Satrap — Provincial governor
The word satrap (σατράπης) entered Greek in the fifth century BCE. The Old Persian xšathra-pāvan, from xšathra (kingdom, province) and pāvan (protector, guardian), was the title of the provincial governors of the Achaemenid Empire. The Greek satrapes was a direct borrowing, and the word was used by Greek writers to refer to the provincial governors of the Achaemenid, Hellenistic, and Parthian empires. The English word satrap, which comes from this Greek term, now means a provincial governor or, by extension, a subordinate official or a person who serves a powerful master.
The institution of the satrap, in which a powerful provincial governor ruled a large and populous province on behalf of the King of Kings, was widely imitated in the Hellenistic successor states and the Roman Empire. The Ptolemaic, Seleucid, and Roman provincial governors were often called satrapes in Greek sources, and the institution of the satrapiya (province) was a major element in the administrative vocabulary of the ancient and medieval world.
A note on the etymology of “angel”
The word angeion (ἀγγεῖον) is often claimed to be a Persian loanword, but the etymology is disputed and the received view is that angeion is a native Greek word, related to agkos (“bend”), and not from Old Persian. The claim that angeion comes from Old Persian hanjaman (“meeting, assembly”) is rejected by most modern etymologists. The English word angel comes from the Greek angelos (ἄγγελος), which is a separate Greek word meaning “messenger,” and which is not cognate with angeion in the standard etymological account. The angel concept in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic theology is more directly tied to the Hebrew malʾakh than to any Persian source. The yazatas of Zoroastrianism are sometimes compared to the angels of the Abrahamic traditions, but the comparison is one of parallel religious function rather than direct etymological descent.
Kithara — Lyre, guitar
The word kithara (κιθάρα) is a musical instrument of Near Eastern origin, possibly from Old Persian or from a related Anatolian language, which gave rise to the Greek kithara and the Latin cithara, and from there to the English words guitar and zither. The Greek kithara was a stringed instrument with a wooden soundbox, used in ancient Greek music to accompany singing, recitation, and dance. The instrument was associated with Apollo, the god of music, poetry, and prophecy.
The English word guitar comes from the Greek kithara by way of the Latin cithara and the Spanish guitarra, and the modern guitar, although much changed in form from the ancient Greek instrument, is a member of the same family of plucked stringed instruments. The English word zither comes from the Latin cithara by way of the German Zither, and the zither is a related instrument still used in Alpine and Central European folk music.
Other Persian loanwords in Greek
The list of Persian loanwords in Greek is long. Among the more important are narta (spikenard, a fragrant plant), from Old Persian; rhodon (rose), possibly from Old Persian varda; smaragdos (emerald), from Semitic, possibly via Old Persian; zeia (a type of grain) and kyminon (cumin), from Semitic, possibly via Old Persian; narkissos (narcissus) and kinnabaris (cinnabar), of uncertain origin, possibly from Old Persian; and sesamon (sesame), myron (myrrh), and kyminon, all of Semitic origin, possibly transmitted through Old Persian. The titles kyros (lord) and aspis (shield) may also be of Old Persian origin, although both etymologies are disputed.