English
feddan
Feddan comes from Arabic فَدَّان ‘a square measure, acre, feddan, fluctuating…’, and goes back to Aramaic פַּדְּנָא.
- Aramaicc. 1000 BCE–700 CEפַּדְּנָאpaddənā
- Arabicc. 500–presentفَدَّانfaddān‘a square measure, acre, feddan, fluctuating highly in size by region and time’
- Englishearliest quotation 1916feddan
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Aramaicc. 1000 BCE–700 CEפַּדְּנָאpaddənā
- Arabicc. 500–presentفَدَّانfaddān‘a square measure, acre, feddan, fluctuating highly in size by region and time’
- Englishearliest quotation 1916feddan
Earliest quotation: 1916, F. C. Willcocks, The Insect and Related Pests of Egypt (volume 1: “[…] which means that sowing at the usual rate…”
Every English word from Aramaic פַּדְּנָא
Today it means
noun A Middle Eastern unit of area, divided into 24 kirats, and typically equivalent to 4200.8 square metres.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Aramaic פַּדְּנָא / feddan