Etymology

sanjak

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Today it means: A district, a prefecture, particularly (historical) a second-level administrative division of the Ottoman Empire. Full definition →

First used 16th c.Ottoman Turkish سنجاق ← Proto-Turkic *sančgak
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The story

  1. Proto-Turkic · derived from*sančgak“lance, streamer attached to a spear”
  2. Ottoman Turkish · borrowed fromسنجاق“subdivision of a vilayet”
  3. English todaysanjak

From Ottoman Turkish سنجاق (sancâk, “subdivision of a vilayet”, literally “flag, banner”), from Proto-Turkic *sančgak (“lance, streamer attached to a spear”).

Words from the same roots

Ottoman Turkishسنجاق all →

sanjakate

First known use, by meaning

  • from 16th c. A district, a prefecture, particularly (historical) a second-level administrative division of the Ottoman Empire.
  • 16th–19th c. Synonym of sanjakbey: the officer supervising a sanjak.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.