Etymograph

English

softa

Softa comes from Ottoman Turkish صوفته ‘theology student’, from Classical Persian سوخته ‘burnt’, and ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewk- ‘white’.

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewk-‘white’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Persianc. 900–presentسوختنsuxtan‘to burn’
  3. Classical Persianc. 900–presentسوختهsōxta‘burnt’
  4. Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928صوفته‘theology student’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1896softa

attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed deepest recorded ancestor

Lineage

  1. Proto-Indo-Europeanc. 4500–2500 BCE*ḱewk-‘white’root as named · steps between not traced
  2. Persianc. 900–presentسوختنsuxtan‘to burn’
  3. Classical Persianc. 900–presentسوختهsōxta‘burnt’
  4. Ottoman Turkishc. 1300–1928صوفته‘theology student’
  5. Englishearliest quotation 1896softa

Earliest quotation: 1896, Eliakim Littell, Robert S. Littell: “The softas, concerning whose exploits we have heard so…”

Every English word from Proto-Indo-European *ḱewk-

Today it means

noun A religious student, especially in Turkey

Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.

Etymograph / Proto-Indo-European *ḱewk- / softa

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