Zahab
/ˈzɑː.hæb/noun
A transliteration of the Arabic word ذَهَب (dhahab), meaning gold.
Did you know?Arabic ذَهَب can mean both “gold” and “he went,” although scholars generally treat the precious-metal noun and the verb as historically distinct words despite their identical spelling.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḏahab-
“Gold; the precious yellow metal”
2nd Millennium BCE
Akkadian
ḫurāṣu
“Gold; the standard Akkadian word for the metal, while related Semitic forms developed elsewhere”
Biblical Hebrew
Hebrew
זָהָב (zāhāḇ)
“Gold; wealth and precious treasure”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ذَهَب (dhahab)
“Gold”
Medieval and Modern Arabic
Arabic
ذهب (dhahab/zahab)
“Gold; transliteration varies because Arabic ذ is represented as dh, z, or occasionally th”
Modern English
English
zahab
“A rare English transliteration of Arabic dhahab, “gold””