Meanings
alternative Zand
- 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 - 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 3122 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 115The 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
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Avestan𐬰𐬀𐬌𐬥𐬙𐬌“understanding”
- Middle Persianznd“understanding, interpretation”
- 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-.
More words from Middle Persian, Avestan
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
Zend. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend
“Zend.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Zend,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Zend.
Source: Zend on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.