زنار

Arabic

Alternative forms

• زُنَّارَة (zunnāra)

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ζωνάριον (zōnárion), likely via Aramaic זונרא / ܙܘܢܪܐ (zūnārā). See the usage notes for distinctions between various types of belts.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zun.naːr/

Noun

زُنَّار • (zunnār) m (plural زَنَانِير (zanānīr))

1. belt, girdle
2. (al-Andalus) a kind of coarse mantle

Usage notes

In the time of ʿUmar a زُنَّار (zunnār) would mean a belt worn by Christians, Jews, Sabians, Magians and other non-Muslims; for it had become fashionable in the Byzantine Empire under Diocletian and Constantine to wear a ζώνη (zṓnē) or cingulum which was first a symbol of servitude in public office and then in religious office. For Zoroastrians parallelly the conviction developed to wear a كُسْتِيج (kustīj, “belt”), whereas Babylonian Jews wore a هِمْيَان (himyān) הֶמְיָנָא (hemyānā, “belt”). Public officials in the Iranian empire wore a كَمَر (kamar, “belt”) without which no Iranian of distinction would go out, termed in Arabic مِنْطَقَة (minṭaqa, “belt”). With the new Muslim rulers the former girdles were imposed and the كَمَر (kamar) or مِنْطَقَة (minṭaqa) prohibited for non-Muslims. An Arabic term for “girdle” neutral from the beginning is حِزَام (ḥizām).

Declension

Declension of noun زُنَّار (zunnār)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زُنَّار zunnār	الزُّنَّار az-zunnār	زُنَّار zunnār
Nominative	زُنَّارٌ zunnārun	الزُّنَّارُ az-zunnāru	زُنَّارُ zunnāru
Accusative	زُنَّارًا zunnāran	الزُّنَّارَ az-zunnāra	زُنَّارَ zunnāra
Genitive	زُنَّارٍ zunnārin	الزُّنَّارِ az-zunnāri	زُنَّارِ zunnāri
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زُنَّارَيْن zunnārayn	الزُّنَّارَيْن az-zunnārayn	زُنَّارَيْ zunnāray
Nominative	زُنَّارَانِ zunnārāni	الزُّنَّارَانِ az-zunnārāni	زُنَّارَا zunnārā
Accusative	زُنَّارَيْنِ zunnārayni	الزُّنَّارَيْنِ az-zunnārayni	زُنَّارَيْ zunnāray
Genitive	زُنَّارَيْنِ zunnārayni	الزُّنَّارَيْنِ az-zunnārayni	زُنَّارَيْ zunnāray
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زَنَانِير zanānīr	الزَّنَانِير az-zanānīr	زَنَانِير zanānīr
Nominative	زَنَانِيرُ zanānīru	الزَّنَانِيرُ az-zanānīru	زَنَانِيرُ zanānīru
Accusative	زَنَانِيرَ zanānīra	الزَّنَانِيرَ az-zanānīra	زَنَانِيرَ zanānīra
Genitive	زَنَانِيرَ zanānīra	الزَّنَانِيرِ az-zanānīri	زَنَانِيرِ zanānīri

Derived terms

• زَنَّرَ (zannara, “to put a belt upon”)
• تَزَنَّرَ (tazannara, “to put a belt upon oneself”)
• زُنَّيْر (zunnayr, diminutive)

Descendants

• → Ge'ez: ዝናር (zənar)

References

• “زنار” in Almaany
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1845) Dictionnaire détaillé des noms des vêtements chez les arabes‎^[1] (in French), Amsterdam: Jean Müller, page 28
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1845) Dictionnaire détaillé des noms des vêtements chez les arabes‎^[2] (in French), Amsterdam: Jean Müller, pages 196–198
• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “زنار”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[3] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 606
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “زنار”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[4] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 259
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “زنار”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[5], London: Williams & Norgate, page 1258
• Levy-Rubin, Mika (2011) Non-Muslims in the Early Islamic Empire. From Surrender to Coexistence, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo, Delhi, Tokyo, Mexico City: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 154–157
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “زنار”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[6], Vienna, column 1881
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “زنار”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[7] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 532

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic زُنَّار (zunnār), from Ancient Greek ζωνάριον (zōnárion).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [zun.ˈnɑːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zʊn.nɑ́ːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zʊn.nɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [zʊn.nɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [zun.nɔ́ːɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [zon.nɒ́ːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zun.nɔ́ɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	zunnār
Dari reading?	zunnār
Iranian reading?	zonnâr
Tajik reading?	zunnor

Noun

زنار • (zonnâr)

1. (historical) belt or thread worn by non-Muslims:
   1. zunnar; belt that Christians and Jews are obliged to wear under Islamic rule
   2. kushti; sacred girdle of Zoroastrians
   3. sacred thread of a twice-born Hindu man
   4. (poetic) Generic symbol of infidelity, often in contrast to the تسبیح (tasbih, “Muslim rosary”).

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “زنار”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim