կաշի

From Old Armenian կաշի (kaši).

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• (Eastern Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [kɑˈʃi]
• (Western Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [ɡɑˈʃi]

կաշի • (kaši)

1. skin (of a human); hide (of an animal)
2. leather
3. (colloquial) peel, rind (of a fruit)

• (skin): մաշկ (mašk)

According to Ačaṙyan and J̌ahukyan, perhaps a Semitic borrowing. Compare Akkadian 𒋢 (/kūšu/, “skin”), which goes back to Sumerian 𒋢 (kuš, “skin”). This is also a widely-used determinative used throughout cuneiform script languages, and therefore widely-disseminated throughout the ancient world. Ačaṙyan adduces also Arabic قشعه‎ (qašʕa, “dry skin”), قشاعه‎ (qašāʕa, “a piece of dried up leather”) and some other derivatives of the root قش‎ (qašš, “to become dry, to dry up”), but according to J̌ahukyan these are not related to the Akkadian word.

Martirosyan connects with Hittite 𒋢𒆳𒊭 (^KUŠkur-ša /kurša-, kurši-/, “skin, hide, fleece; skinbag, sheepskin as a divinized fetish or talisman”). This is not scarcely attested as it plays a prominent part in the state cult, having connections to more well-known Western motifs like the Golden Fleece and the Cornucopia. This term is an ancient wanderword with uncertain etymology, having Semitic forms and connections as well, potentially stemming from *kariś- (“stomach, stomach-pouch, paunch, omentum or intestine bag”), which also extends from the natural use of an animal's stomach as a sack container. Note also the initial "^KUŠ" is the Sumerian determinative mentioned above, denoting something made of skin, hide, or leather.

Note also Svan კე̄შ (ḳēš, “sheepskin”); Chechen къерс-иг (qʼers-ig, “coarse, hardened leather”), кӏерс-иг (kʼers-ig), Ingush къерс-иг (qʼers-ig); Central Kurdish کاش‎ (kaş), کاژ‎ (kaj, “slough (of snake); skin on liquid; peel”), کاژی‎ (kajî, “slough (of snake); membrane”).

կաշի • (kaši)

1. hide, skin, leather

• Armenian: կաշի (kaši)

• Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971–1979), “կաշի”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• Awetikʿean, G.; Siwrmēlean, X.; Awgerean, M. (1836–1837), “կաշի”, in Nor baṙgirkʿ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Black, Jeremy; George, Andrew; Postgate, Nicholas (2000), “kūšu”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 171a
• Fīrūzābādī (1834) Al-uqiyānūs al-basīt‎, volume II, translated from Arabic into Ottoman Turkish by Aḥmad ʻĀṣim, 2nd edition, Constantinople, page 647
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010), “կաշի”, in Vahan Sargsyan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, page 483b
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2015), “Notes on Anatolian loanwords in Armenian”, in International Conference “Armenian language contacts through the ages” (12–15 May 2015, St. Petersburg, Institute for linguistic studies, Russian Academy of sciences)‎, Paper presented at a conference, pages 9–10
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 941, unknown origin
• Petrosean, H. Matatʿeay V. (1879), “կաշի”, in Nor Baṙagirkʿ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy