اسفناج

• سپاناج‎ (sepânâj), اسپاناج‎ (espânâj), سپناج‎ (sepanâj), اسپناج‎ (espanâj), اسپانج‎ (espânaj), اسپنانج‎ (espanânaj)
• سفاناج‎ (sefânâj), اسفاناج‎ (esfânâj)
• سپاناخ‎ (sepânâx), اسپاناخ‎ (espânâx), اسپناخ‎ (espanâx), سپناخ‎ (sepanâx), اسپناخ‎ (espanâx), اسپانخ‎ (espânax)
• سفاناخ‎ (sefânâx), اسفاناخ‎ (esfânâx), اسفناخ‎ (esfanâx)
• اسباناخ‎ (esbânâx), اسبناخ‎ (esbenâx), سبانخ‎ (sabânax)
• سبانج‎ (sebânaj), اسبانج‎ (esbânaj), اسبناج‎ (esbanâj)
• اسپاناغ‎ (espânâğ), اسپناغ‎ (espanâğ)

Kulturwort of Iranian origin. According to Asatrian, there were probably two forms in late Middle Iranian, *ispanāg (or *ispināg) and (the dialectal) *ispanāx (or *ispināx), yielding Arabized forms إِسْفَنَاج / إِسْفِنَاج‎ (ʾisfanāj / ʾisfināj) and إِسْفَنَاخ / إِسْفِنَاخ‎ (ʾisfanāḵ / ʾisfināḵ), which were popularized in Persian and Arabic, respectively (alternative forms with پ‎ (p) are directly from Middle Iranian). The Old Iranian form would be *spināka-, *spinaka- (compare Kurdish sping), from the root *spin- (Northwestern Iranian), *sin- (Southwestern Iranian), ultimately from the Proto-Iranian *spai- (*spi-), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“thorn-like”) (*spi-), which are also reflected in Latin spina, Persian سنجد‎ (senjed), Ossetian сындз (synʒ), синдзӕ (sinʒæ, “thorn”), Baluchi [script needed] (šinž), Central Iranian šeng, Kermani šank (“thorn”). Also akin to Semnani esbenāγa.

According to Cabolov, related to Northern Kurdish siping (“meadow salsify, possibly also spinach”) and Persian سپند‎ (sipand, “wild rue”).

اسفناج

• (Iranian Persian) IPA^(key): /esfeˈnɒːd͡ʒ/, [ɛsfeˈnɒːd͡ʒ]

اسفناج • (esfanâj, esfenâj) (plural اسفناج‌ها‎ (esfanâj, esfenâj-hâ))

1. spinach
   • 1258, Rumi, 'Masnavi', First Book:

     ‏من سپاناخ تو با هرچم پزی
     یا ترش‌با یا که شیرین می‌سزی‎

     man sepânâx to ba har čam pazi
     yâ torš-bâ yâ ke širin mi-sazi

     (please add an English translation of this quote)

Most are directly from Middle Iranian

• → Arabic: إِسْفَنَاخ / إِسْفِنَاخ‎ (ʾisfanāḵ / ʾisfināḵ), إِسْفَانَاخ‎ (ʾisfānāḵ), إِسْفَنَاج / إِسْفِنَاج‎ (ʾisfanāj / ʾisfināj), سَبَانَخ / سَبَانِخ‎ (sabānaḵ / sabāniḵ)
  • Andalusian Arabic: [script needed] (isfināj), [script needed] (ispināj), [script needed] (isbināḵ)
    • → Spanish: espinaca
      • → Medieval Latin: spinacium, spinachium, spinarchia (influenced by spina (“thorn”))
        • → Byzantine Greek: σπινάκιον (spinákion), σπανάκιν (spanákin), σπινάκι (spináki)
          • Greek: σπανάκι (spanáki), σπανάκιον (spanákion)
            • → Bulgarian: спанак (spanak)
            • → Romanian: spanac
            • → Serbo-Croatian: спанаћ / spanać
        • → Italian: spinacio, spinace
          • → Middle High German: spināt (final -t perhaps influenced by Salat)
            • German: Spinat
              • → Russian: шпинат (špinat)
                • → Bashkir: шпинат (špinat)
                • → Kazakh: шпинат (şpïnat)
                • → Tatar: шпинат (špinat)
              • → Serbo-Croatian: шпинат / špìnāt
        • → Old French: espinoche, espinache, espinarde, espinaces
          • French: épinard, (obsolete) epinart
          • → English: spinach, spinage (obsolete)
          • → Irish: spionáiste
• → Georgian: ისპანახი (isṗanaxi)
• → Middle Armenian: սպանախ (spanax)
  • Armenian: սպանախ (spanax)
• → Ottoman Turkish: اسفناج‎ (isfinâj), اسپناخ‎ (ispenâh), اسفاناخ‎ (isfânâh)
• → Turkic:
  • Azerbaijani: ispanaq
  • Kipchak:
    • Cuman: yspanac
  • Ottoman Turkish: اسپاناك‎, اسپناك‎ (ispanâk)
    • Turkish: ıspanak
  • Turkmen: ysmanak

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–), “اسفناج”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Asatrian, Garnik S. (2011) A Comparative Vocabulary of Central Iranian Dialects‎ (in Persian and English), Tehran: Safir Ardehal Publications, pages 43–45
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “اسپناج”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• Lokotsch, Karl (1927) Etymologisches Wörterbuch der europäischen Wörter orientalischen Ursprungs (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, § 126, page 11
• Cabolov, R. L. (2010), “siping”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ kurdskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Kurdish Language] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Russian Academy Press Vostochnaya Literatura, page 263
• Redhouse, J. W. (1884), “spinach”, in A Lexicon, English and Turkish, 3rd edition, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 703
• Redhouse, J. W.; Wells, Charles (1880), “spinach”, in Redhouse's Turkish Dictionary, in Two Parts, English and Turkish, and Turkish and English, 2nd edition, London: Bernard Quartch, 15 Piccadilly, page 306
• Abajev, V. I. (1979) Istoriko-etimologičeskij slovarʹ osetinskovo jazyka [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language] (in Russian), volume III, Moscow, Leningrad: USSR Academy of Sciences, pages 201–202