Etymology

Aleppo

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Today it means: The capital city of Aleppo Governorate, Syria. Full definition →

Italian Aleppo ← French Alep ← Ottoman Turkish حلب
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The story

  1. Arabic · derived fromحَلَبَ“gave out milk”
  2. Arabic · derived fromحَلَب
  3. Ottoman Turkish · derived fromحلب
  4. French · derived fromAlep
  5. Italian · borrowed fromAleppo
  6. English todayAleppo

Borrowed from Italian Aleppo, from French Alep, from Ottoman Turkish حلب (haleb), from Arabic حَلَب (ḥalab), of uncertain origin. Theorized to be from Arabic حَلَبَ (ḥalaba, “gave out milk”), coming from the ancient tradition that Abraham gave milk to travelers as they moved throughout the region. Attested in Akkadian as 𒌷𒄩𒆷𒀊𒆠 (ᵁᴿᵁḫa-la-abᴷᴵ, “Ḫalab/Ḫalap”), Hittite 𒄬𒉺 (Ḥalpa), Ugaritic 𐎈𐎍𐎁 (ḥlb), Aramaic חלב (Ḥlb), Old Armenian Խաղաբ (Xałab), Ancient Greek Χαλιβών (Khalibṓn), and Classical Syriac ܚܰܠܰܒ (Ḥalpa).

Words from the same roots

FrenchAlep all →

Arabicحَلَب all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.