عطارد

Where it comes from

Ultimately unknown, without known Semitic cognates:

* Natively coined from the root ط ر د (ṭ r d) meaning, "to chase or chase away", "to race or race after", "to cause something to pick up speed", "to outstrip", "follow swiftly"; related to the planet having the shortest orbital period and its eccentric periods of velocity, an association found cross-culturally via observation. The atypical /ع/ occurs occasionally in some Arabic dialects in replacement of /أ/ due to the pharyngeal-aspect of a nearby emphatic consonant, namely /ط/.

* A variation of ع ط د (ʕ ṭ d) meaning "to be extreme" in many senses including "to go at a very quick pace", "to be most hasty", "a very quick rate of going". Alternatively, potentially a synthesis of both roots, as such blends are a known source of etymology for some quadriliteral roots.

Additional Theories and Connections

* A relation to Old Persian 𐎫𐎡𐎼𐎭𐎠𐎫 (t-i-r-d-a-t /⁠*tīra-dāta⁠/, “Given by Mercury; Tiridates”), the front portion being cognate to Persian تیر (tir, “arrow”), from Middle Persian [script needed] (tyl /⁠tīr⁠/, “arrow; also with the meaning Mercury, perhaps from swift moving, projectile”). There is perhaps a layer of phono-semantic matching as the root ط ر د (ṭ r d), with giving chase, also features terms dealing with hunting spears and arrows as well.

* As a distortion of Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”), part of ὑδράργῠρος (hudrárgŭros, literally “liquid silver”), as the planet and the metal have been in association since antiquity.