mandil

The story

1. Latin · derived frommantēlium
2. Medieval Greek · derived fromμανδίλιον
3. Arabic · derived fromمَنْدِيل“sash; turban cloth; handkerchief”
4. English todaymandil

From Arabic مَنْدِيل (mandīl, “sash; turban cloth; handkerchief”), already borrowed before Islam from Medieval Greek μανδίλιον (mandílion), μαντίλιον (mantílion), μανδήλη (mandḗlē, “cloth; hand towel; handkerchief; tablecloth”) (the last word found in an Egyptian papyrus dated to 481 AD), from Latin mantēlium, mantēle (“hand towel, napkin”), probably from manus (“hand”) + tergere (“to rub, wipe, wipe off; to clean”). Compare French mendil (“turban, turban cloth”) (1659; translating German Mendil from a 1656 source).

Words from the same roots