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Etymology
of Arabic words: the word قاموس
(kamous)
means dictionary and according to the following site
derives
from the greek word Ὠκεανός (okeanus)
which means ocean.
Here
is the full text of the above interesting
site:
“””The
most commonly used Arabic word for “dictionary” is qamous
(قاموس). Some
sources suggest it is derived from the root “q-m-s”, which
supposedly means “rising water”. I think this verb was
retro-fitted into the language to give an Arabic root to what is
clearly a foreign word. For behind qamous,
it is hard to miss the Greek Ὠκεανός (okeanus),
which is the root of the English ocean
and the French océan.
But
how did it come to mean “dictionary” in Arabic? For that,
blame Abu Tahir bin Ibrahim Majduddin al-Fairuzabadi, a 14th century
Arab-Persian lexicographer who composed the most authoritative Arabic
dictionary of his time. He named it Al-Qamous Al-Muheet, or
“The Ocean”, by which he meant to suggest comprehensiveness.
His dictionary was such a hit that over the centuries its name was
genericised and qamous
came
to mean “a dictionary”.”””