ատրճանակ

/ɑdəɾd͡ʒɑˈnɑɡ/ [ɑdəɾd͡ʒɑnɑ́ɡ]Noun

WA · Western Armenian·Latin: adrcanag

meaning · definition

գրպանի փոքր հրացան

translations

ENpistol, handgun; revolverTRtabanca

etymology

Although attested only in modern texts, ատրճանակ (atrčanak) has a shape of classical Middle Iranian borrowings. Ačaṙean reconstructs the classical form as *ատրջանակ (*atrǰanak), supposedly borrowed from Middle Iranian *āturǰanak, composed of the words for ‘fire’ (see ատր- (atr-)) and ‘to hit, strike’ (see Proto-Indo-Iranian *ǰʰánti). For the suffix see -ակ (-ak). He speculates that the initial meaning was ‘device for making fire, fire-steel, flint’: compare Persian آتش‌زنه (âtaš-zana, “fire-steel, tinder-box”) from آتش زدن (âtaš zadan, “to set fire to”). From this meaning some modern author coined the sense ‘pistol’. For such a semantic development compare Turkish çakmaklı (“flintlock gun”) from çakmak (“fire-steel”).[1][2] Compare also հրաճան (hračan), included in a couple of dictionaries as a translation of ‘musket’,[3][4] which can be a learned Armenization of ատրճան (atrčan), by replacing Iranian *ātr- with native հուր (hur, “fire”).