Where does “merdevine” come from?
merdevine (Serbo-Croatian) comes from Ottoman Turkish مردیون, from Persian نردبان, from Persian نرد, from Persian نردشیر, from Middle Persian nywʾlthšyl, from Middle Persian nyw, from Old Persian 𐎴𐎡𐎲, from Proto-Iranian naybah.
merdevine (Serbo-Croatian): ladder
Ancestry of “merdevine”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Ottoman Turkish | مردیون | Vulgar form of نردبان |
| 2 | Persian | نردبان | ladder; staircase, steps |
| 3 | Persian | نرد | backgammon |
| 4 | Persian | نردشیر | backgammon |
| 5 | Middle Persian | nywʾlthšyl | backgammon |
| 6 | Middle Persian | nyw | good, brave, valiant |
| 7 | Old Persian | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 | — |
| 8 | Proto-Iranian | naybah | blessed, fortunate |
| 9 | Proto-Indo-Iranian | naybʰah | — |
| 10 | Proto-Indo-European | neybʰ- | blessed, holy, fortunate |
| 11 | Proto-Indo-European | ney- | to shine; to be aroused, shine; to be excited |
| 12 | Cebuano | -hi | — |