ախազ

Attested only in the works of Simeon Lehacʿi.

Usually considered a word of uncertain origin and compared to Persian خز‎ (xaz, “marten”), Old Armenian աքիս (akʿis, “weasel”), Ancient Greek ἴκτις (íktis, “weasel”).

Almost certainly a Turkic borrowing: compare Karachay-Balkar агъаз (aɣaz), Southern Altai агас (aɣas), Mamluk-Kipchak اق اص‎ (aq as), Armeno-Kipchak ախ աս (ax as), Tatar акас (aqas, “ermine”), whence also Moksha акась (akasʹ). These literally mean "white weasel" or "white stoat" and contain the native Turkic words for "white" (compare Turkish ak) and "a kind of weasel" (compare Turkish as, Karakhanid ااز‎ (āz)). For more on Turkic see Sevortjan, who does not mention the Armenian.

ախազ • (axaz)

1. ermine
2. ermine-fur

• Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971), “ախազ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume I, 2nd edition, reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 96b
• Awetikʿean, G.; Siwrmēlean, X.; Awgerean, M. (1836–1837), “ախազ”, in Nor baṙgirkʿ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Łazaryan, Ṙ. S.; Avetisyan, H. M. (2009), “ախազ”, in Miǰin hayereni baṙaran [Dictionary of Middle Armenian] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 20a
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010), “axaz”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 16
• Petrosean, H. Matatʿeay V. (1879), “ախազ”, in Nor Baṙagirkʿ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Sevortjan, E. V. (1974) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ tjurkskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Turkic Languages]‎ (in Russian), volume I, Moscow: Nauka, pages 191–192