Where does “נייר לקמוס” come from?
נייר לקמוס (Hebrew) comes from German Lackmuspapier, from German Lackmus, from Dutch lakmoes, from Dutch lak, from French laqué, from Middle French lache, from Omani Arabic لك, from Persian لاک — to protect.
נייר לקמוס (Hebrew): litmus paper
Ancestry of “נייר לקמוס”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | German | Lackmuspapier | litmus paper |
| 2 | German | Lackmus | litmus |
| 3 | Dutch | lakmoes | litmus |
| 4 | Dutch | lak | lacquer; foolery, foolishness, nonsense;... |
| 5 | French | laqué | past participle of laquer; glazed |
| 6 | Middle French | lache | — |
| 7 | Omani Arabic | لك | — |
| 8 | Persian | لاک | — |
| 9 | Urdu | لاکھ | lakh, lac |
| 10 | Maharastri Prakrit | 𑀮𑀓𑁆𑀔 | — |
| 11 | Sanskrit | लक्ष | a mark, sign, token; a mark to aim at, target,... |
| 12 | Sanskrit | लक्ष् | perceive, observe; recognise; to mark, sign |
| 13 | Sanskrit | रक्ष् | to protect, guard, watch, take care of, save,... |
| 14 | Proto-Indo-Aryan | Hrakṣ- | — |
| 15 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | Hrakš- | — |
| 16 | Proto-Indo-European | h₂lek- | to protect |