Zend

Z10E1N1D2

proper noun

Exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of the Avesta's texts.

Similar
AvestanAvestan languageZend language
Less commonScrabble 14

Meanings

proper noun

alternative Zand

  1. Exegetical glosses, paraphrases, commentaries and translations of the Avesta's texts.

    Zand or 'Interpretation' is a term for the exegesis of Avestan texts through glosses, commentaries and translations.

    1984, Mary Boyce, Textual Sources for the Study of Zoroastrianism, Manchester: UP, page 3
  2. datedThe Avestan language.

    [The Avesta] is the only work known to be written in the Zend language.

    1819, William Erskine, “On the Sacred Books and Religion of the Parsis”, in Trans. of the Lit. Soc. of Bombay, II, 1820, page 312
    2 more examples

    As to grammatical forms, the Gâtha dialect shows not a few deviations from the current Zend language.

    1878, Martin Haug, Essays on the Sacred Language, Writings, and Religion of the Parsis. Trübner, page 115

    The dialect in which these writings are composed goes usually by the name of the Zend ; it is also styled the Avestan, and sometimes the Old Bactrian, from the country Bactria, the north-easternmost region of the great Iranian territory, which is supposed to have been its specific locality.

    1867, William Dwight Whitney, Language and the Study of Language, Trübner, page 222

Synonyms & antonyms

nounan ancient Iranian language, used as the language of Zoroastrian scripture

Similar
AvestanAvestan languageZend language
Also see

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Avestan𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌“understanding”
  2. Middle Persianznd“understanding, interpretation”
  3. EnglishZend

Via Zoroastrian Middle Persian znd (zand, “understanding, interpretation”), from Avestan 𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌 (zainti, “understanding”), from Avestan verbal root 𐬰𐬀𐬥- (zan-, “to know, to understand”), from Proto-Indo-European *ǵneh₃-.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

French zend
  • zendthe Avestan language
German Zendisch
  • Zendischthe Avestan language
Hindi ज़ंद
  • ज़ंद (zand)the Avestan language
Persian زند
  • زند (zand)the Avestan language
Cite this entry
APA

Zend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend

MLA

“Zend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Zend,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend.

Source: Zend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.