Where does “beja” come from?

beja (Old Khmer) comes from English beige, from French beige, from Middle French beige, from Old French bege, from Vulgar Latin bysseus, from Latin byssus, from Ancient Greek βύσσος, from Hebrew בּוּץ — byssus.

Ancestry of “beja”, step by step

beja traces back through 3 separate lines of ancestry.

via English beige

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1EnglishbeigeA slightly yellowish gray colour, as that of...
2Frenchbeigebeige
3Middle Frenchbeige
4Old Frenchbegecolor of undyed wool or cotton
5Vulgar Latinbysseuscottony grey; cotton-coloured
6Latinbyssusbyssus or sea silk
7Ancient Greekβύσσοςflax; linen; Levant cotton
8Hebrewבּוּץbyssus

via German Fähe

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1GermanFähefemale of a fox, wolf, badger or marten
2Middle High Germanvohe
3Old High Germanfohavixen
4Proto-West Germanic*fuhāvixen, female fox
5Proto-Germanicfuhǭvixen, female fox

via Arabic بجا

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Arabicبجا
2BejaBidhaawiBeja language
3Arabicبَدَوِيّbedouin, nomad, herdsman
4Arabicبَدْوdesert, camp
Every word from Hebrew בּוּץ