عطارد

Arabic[edit]

Ultimately unknown, without known Semitic cognates:

Natively coined from the root ط ر د (ṭ-r-d) meaning, "to chase or chase away", "to race or race after", "to cause something to pick up speed", "to outstrip", "follow swiftly"; related to the planet having the shortest orbital period and its eccentric periods of velocity, an association found cross-culturally via observation. The atypical /ع/ occurs occasionally in some Arabic dialects in replacement of /أ/ due to the pharyngeal-aspect of a nearby emphatic consonant, namely /ط/.
A variation of ع ط د (ʕ-ṭ-d) meaning "to be extreme" in many senses including "to go at a very quick pace", "to be most hasty", "a very quick rate of going". Alternatively, potentially a synthesis of both roots, as such blends are a known source of etymology for some quadriliteral roots.

Additional Theories and Connections

A relation to Old Persian 𐎫𐎡𐎼𐎭𐎠𐎫 (t-i-r-d-a-t /⁠*tīra-dāta⁠/, “Given by Mercury; Tiridates”), the front portion being cognate to Persian (tir, “arrow”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (tyl /⁠tīr⁠/, “arrow; also with the meaning Mercury, perhaps from swift moving, projectile”). There is perhaps a layer of phono-semantic matching as the root ط ر د (ṭ-r-d), with giving chase, also features terms dealing with hunting spears and arrows as well.
As a distortion of Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”), part of ὑδράργῠρος (hudrárguros, literally “liquid silver”), as the planet and the metal have been in association since antiquity.

عُطَارِد • (ʕuṭārid) m

Declension of noun عُطَارِد (ʕuṭārid)

الكُتْبَي (al-kutbay), الكاتِب (al-kātib, “the scribe, the record-keeper, the accountant, the clerk, the cleric, the librarian”)
أَنْبَي (ʔanbay, “the caller, the informer, the announcer; the announcer of the account, informer of what really happened”)
مُنْعِم (munʕim, “the one that has been favored, the agreeable one”), contrasted with other planets as being neutral
السَعْدَانِ (as-saʕdāni, “the two good fortunes”), paired with Venus, contrasted with Mars and Saturn