Where does “هفت‌سین” come from?

هفت‌سین (Persian) comes from Persian هفت, from Middle Persian hp̄t', from Proto-Iranian haptá, from Proto-Indo-Iranian saptá, from Proto-Indo-European septḿ̥ — seven.

هفت‌سین (Persian): Haft Sin, or the Seven S's; the seven items beginning with the letter sin س which are symbolically arranged on a sofreh or table-cloth in the days running up to Nowruz (the Persian New Year)

Definitions

  1. Haft Sin, or the Seven S's; the seven items beginning with the letter sin س which are symbolically arranged on a sofreh or table-cloth in the days running up to Nowruz (the Persian New Year)

Ancestry of “هفت‌سین”, step by step

هفت‌سین traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.

via Persian هفت

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1Persianهفتseven
2Middle Persianhp̄t'seven
3Proto-Iranianhaptáseven
4Proto-Indo-Iraniansaptáseven
5Proto-Indo-Europeanseptḿ̥seven

via Persian سین

StepLanguageWordMeaning
1PersianسینName of the 25th letter of the Persian alphabet (س), representing the sound
2Englishseenpast participle of see; simple past tense of see;...
3Arabicسِين
Every word from Proto-Indo-European septḿ̥Every word from Proto-Indo-Iranian saptáEvery word from Proto-Iranian haptá