رف

Where it comes from

Disputed etymology:

* Natively from the root ر ف ف (r f f) in the sense of an outstretched wing being symbolic of protection, a coverlet; hence originally an awning or covering; semantically becoming a story or tier of a building as each window would feature such a cloth shelf above it. Parallel semantic conception found with Hebrew רפפות (“window shutters; a collection of layered thin strips”) and Western Neo-Aramaic ܪܦ (rap, “level, story; room, chamber”).

* Natively from the root ر ف ف (r f f) in the sense of stretching elbows out on a pillow or cushion, stemming from an outstretched wing; hence a place to place things, a place to spread things out on.

*From Aramaic found in its descendant Western Neo-Aramaic ܪܦ (rap, “level, story; room, chamber”) of uncertain etymology, but considered likely foreign or possibly even borrowed from Arabic; as for a foreign source possibly connected to Proto-Indo-European *h₁rebʰ-.