عود

Where it comes from

From عَادَ (ʕāda, “to return, to turn back”) in the sense of a branch or other slender piece of wood being flexible.

The sense “oud, lute” can be understood as a semantic loan from Middle Persian [script needed] (lwt' /⁠rōd⁠/, “string; stringed instrument; barbat”) (> Persian رود (rud)), compare like liquid rebracketing in عَسْكَر (ʕaskar) and أَنْجَر (ʔanjar).

The instrument sense of the word is thus an Arabic version of the Persian بربط (barbat). The oud featured a smaller, more curved neck with greater tension, as well as a larger rounded belly created from steam-bent strips of wood. The barbat was carved from one solid piece of wood. The larger size of the oud's belly was something not previously possible before the further development of using hot moisture to aid in bending thin strips. This characteristic technique became the traditional source of the instruments name; for more see Oud and Barbat.

However there is a cognate instrument Ugaritic 𐎓𐎄 (ʿd, “lute, an instrument”) thousands of years prior to this, identified as an early chordophone with connection to Sumerian 𒄑𒅗𒌣 (^(GEŠ)gu₃.de₂, “instruments in general, a lute”, literally “wood that has voice”). This precursor to ouds and guitars was constructed of strings laid on a wood-staff that ran through the whole body of the instrument attached to a simple drum-like resonating body; as strings of lyres and drums were used prior, the distinguishing feature was this wooden rod.

Where it comes from

Verbal noun of عَادَ (ʕāda, “to return”), from the root ع و د (ʕ w d).