كافور

• IPA^(key): /kaː.fuːr/

كَافُور – Cinnamomum camphora

From an Austronesian language such as Malay kapur, possibly via Middle Persian 𐭪𐭠𐭯𐭥𐭫‎ (kʾp̄wl /kāpūr/).

• قَافُور‎ (qāfūr), قَفُّور‎ (qaffūr) – obsolete

كَافُور • (kāfūr) m

1. camphor tree, Cinnamomum camphora
   • a. 675, Ḥasan ibn Ṯābit, ألا دفنتم رسول الله في سفط:

     ‏أَلَا دَفَنْتُم رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ فِي سَفَطٍ — مِنَ الْأَلُوَّةِ وَٱلكَافُورِ مَنْضُودِ‎

     ʔalā dafantum rasūla llāhi fī safaṭin — mina l-ʔaluwwati wal-kāfūri manḍūdi

     Verily you buried God’s prophet in a basket – layered of aloe and camphorwood!

2. the chemical compound camphor
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 76:5:

     ‏إِنَّ ٱلْأَبْرَارَ يَشْرَبُونَ مِن كَأْسٍ كَانَ مِزَاجُهَا كَافُورًا‎‎

     ʔinna l-ʔabrāra yašrabūna min kaʔsin kāna mizājuhā kāfūran

     Lo! the righteous shall drink of a cup whereof the mixture is of camphor

3. river red gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis)

• Andalusian Arabic: كافور‎ (al-kāfūr)
  • → Spanish: alcanfor
    • → Tagalog: alkampor
  • → Portuguese: alcânfora
• → Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܟܐܦܘܪ‎, ‮ܩܦܘܪ‬‎

  Jewish Babylonian Aramaic: כפורא‎, כופרא‎

• → Byzantine Greek: καφουρά (kaphourá), καφούρα (kaphoúra)
  • Greek: καφουρά (kafourá)
• → Georgian: ქაფური (kapuri)
• → Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: kafûr

  Central Kurdish: کافوور‎ (kafûr)

  Southern Kurdish: کافوور‎ (kafûr)

• → Latin: caphura
  • → Catalan: càmfora
  • →? Albanian: kamfuri
• → Persian: کافور‎ (kâfur)
  • → Middle Armenian: քաֆուր (kʿafur)
    • Armenian: քաֆուր (kʿafur)
  • → Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਕਾਫ਼ੂਰ (kāfūr)

    Shahmukhi script: كافور‎ (kāfūr)

• → Turkish: kâfur

The shape KāLūM and the variant form vocalized in three ways especially as ending with ā suggests an Aramaic origin; attested in a broader meaning in Classical Syriac ܟܘܦܪܐ‎ (kuppārā, “sindon; cover of a calyx”) and in Qumranic and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic כופרא‎ (kuppārā, “palm spadix or spathe”), and Jewish Babylonian Aramaic גופרא‎ (guppārā, “inflorescence of a palm”), Classical Mandaic ࡂࡅࡐࡀࡓࡀ‎ (“inflorescence of a palm”), Classical Syriac ܓܘܦܪܐ‎ (guppārā, “inflorescence also of a palm”). But still these are deemed foreign by Nöldeke following Bar ʿAlī and are probably formed in yet another Semitic language, connecting to the Arabic root ك ف ر‎ (k-f-r) and غ ف ر‎ (ḡ-f-r) related to “covering”.

كَافُور • (kāfūr) m, plural كَوافِير‎ (kawāfīr)

1. bract of the inflorescence of the date palm

   Alternative forms: كُفَرَّى‎ (kufarrā), جُفَرَّى‎ (jufarrā)