Where does “ابر” come from?
ابر (Classical Persian) comes from Middle Persian ʾbl, from Proto-Iranian abráh, from Proto-Indo-Iranian abʰrás, from Proto-Indo-European n̥bʰrós, from Proto-Indo-European nebʰ- — to become damp, cloudy.
Ancestry of “ابر”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Middle Persian | ʾbl | — |
| 2 | Proto-Iranian | abráh | cloud |
| 3 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | abʰrás | cloud, raincloud |
| 4 | Proto-Indo-European | n̥bʰrós | rain-cloud, with semantic narrowing to rain,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | nebʰ- | to become damp, cloudy |