Etymology

tamada

ta·ma·da
T1A1M3A1D2A1

Today it means: A toastmaster at a feast in the Caucasus, especially in Georgia. Full definition →

Georgian თამადა ← Persian داماد
Ask AI about its historyChatGPTClaudePerplexityGoogle AIGrok

The story

  1. Persian · derived fromداماد“bridegroom; son-in-law; father-in-law; sovereign's brother-in-law; lover, wooer”
  2. Georgian · borrowed fromთამადა
  3. English todaytamada

Borrowed from Georgian თამადა (tamada), from (Proto-?)Circassian *tħamada (compare West Circassian тхьаматэ (tḥamatɛ, “foreman of a village; boss; master; chairman; (dated) husband”), East Circassian тхьэмадэ (tḥɛmadɛ, “foreman of a village; boss; master; chairman; (dialectal) bridegroom, wooer”)), possibly from Persian داماد (dâmâd, “bridegroom; son-in-law; father-in-law; sovereign's brother-in-law; lover, wooer”) with the ending reshaped under the influence of East Circassian адэ (adɛ, “father”). The suggestion that the word is derived from a blend of თავი (tavi, “head”) + მაგიდა (magida, “table”) (in the sense of a person at the head of a table) is a folk etymology.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.