SAMEKH SMLK, Arab. Y"SMYN Hebrew SMLK Means “Jasmine
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SAMEKH . 1ïéîñàé 䧧á ÷ìîñ SMLK,Arab.Y"SMYN Hebrew SMLK means “jasmine”, “jasminum sambac”, Jasminum Sam- bac L., and features in Rabbinic literature, e.g. in bBer b (JD ; LW :; KA : s.v. ïôñë, :, :; AEY :; FEB ; LF :f.; :). Arabic y¯asam¯ın also designates “jasmine, jasminum officinale” (D :; DT : n. ; M ; DAS :, ; LF :f.). For the identification, cf. LO Perushim on bBer b, p. 2èðîéôøåà 짧á êéðøæ 䧧á àîñ SM",Arab.ZRNYK,o.l."WRPYMNT. Aramaic SM" means “drug, pigment, essence” (JD ; LW :; SD ; SDA ; KA :, :; BM ) and features in Rabbinic literature, e.g. mHul. .. The Aramaic term is explained by Rashi on bMeg b as: æòìá 姧èéðîåôøåà ùãå÷ ïåùìá êéðøæ (cf. as well KA :). Arabic zirn¯ıh or zarn¯ıh,fromPersianzarn¯ıh or zarn¯ıq or zarniy or zarnah (VL :),˘ means˘ “arsenic, a well-known˘ kind of stone (or mineral), of which there are several species; one species is white (white arsenic); another is red (red arsenic, also called sandarac); and another is yellow (i.e. orpiment, or yellow arsenic)” (L ; GS ff.; RS :). The Arabic term features in medieval medical literature, for in- stance, in Maimonides’ On Asthma (XII, ) and is transcribed by Joshua Shatibi as: êéðøæ and translated by Samuel Benveniste as: èðéîåôøåà ("WRPWMYNT. ) (cf. BMA ). For the identification, cf. the Arukh (KA :) which gives the Arabic synonym êéðøæìà and 姧èðéîéôøåà ("WRPYMYNTW. )asaRomancesyn- onym. The vernacular term in the Paris and Oxford MSS is the O. Occ. or O. Cat. aurpi(g)men(t) or orpiment for ‘natural arsenic sulfide’ 1 ïéîñàé: ïéîñé O ïéîéñåé V 2 èðîéôøåà: èðéîéôøåà O èðéîåôøáà V shem tov, synonym list (DAO :; RL :b; RM , ; RPA , ; CB , , ; DECLC :a; DCVB :a). The spelling with Bet instead of Waw in the first syllable in the Vatican MS clearly indicates the diphthongau / /and does not allow the reading orpiment, which is more frequent in Cat. (see DCVB :a; DECLC :a). For the identification of Romance (O. Cat.) "WRPYMYNT. as Arab. ZRNYK, see GHAT :; see also AdV , , where Arab. zirn¯ıh or zarn¯ıh is identified as O. Cat. orpiment. ˘ ˘ . 4ùéèàðâî ùéôàì åà 3äøéôðñ 짧á àøâî 䧧á àø÷ñ SQR",Arab.MGR",o.l.SNPYRH or L"PYSMGN˘ "TY. S˘ Hebrew SQR" means “red paint” and features in Rabbinic literature, e.g. in mShab : (JD ; LW :f.; SDA s.v. àúø÷ñ; KA :, :; BM ; DAS :). Arabic magra˙ means “red earth, with which one dyes; rubric” (L ; M ). For the identification, cf. Maimonides on mShab . (MK :): äøâîìà ,àø÷ñ. The first vernacular term could not be clearly identified, but it is certainly related to the Lat. CINNABARIS for ‘cinnabar, vermillion’ (FEW –:b–a), or rather the M. Lat. cinabrium,forwhicha variant cinaprium is documented in Sin , n. If we assume that the position of the Yod is an error, we might obtain a reading *cinapria. Alternatively,asthePeismoreusualthantheBetinLatinandRomance (see below), this might indicate that SNPYRH corresponds to one of the numerous M. Latin adaptations of the Arabic zun˘gufr,forwhichwe may quote zinfur and vzifur (see Sin s.v. aziniafor; CA ). As for O. Occ., we only find the forms cynobre, cinobri and cinabrion (FEW loc. cit.; DAO :–), for Cat. only the form cinabri is attested and this very late (DCVB :b; DECLC :b). The synonymy with the Hebrew and Arabic words stems from the color of the substance; see entry Samekh of this edition. The second vernacular term is the Lat. expression lapis magnetis for ‘magnetic stone’ (for the commentary see entry Mem , see also the entry Alef , caramita). This synonym was probably added because 3 äøéôðñ: àøéôðñ VO 4 ùéèàðâî: ùéèàðâàî V.