ناسك

Where it comes from

Likely borrowed from a base stem active participle of the matching Aramaic root meaning in the widespread base stem “to pour out”, “to cast” – of which sense in the passive participle form نَسِيك (nasīk, “ingot of gold or silver”) derives as a separate borrowing from Aramaic – and in a technical cultic sense “to libate”, a root related to the Arabic ن ز ع (n z ʕ); considering also that the other terms within the root formula نَسَكَ (nasaka, “to lead a devout or virtuous or ascetic life”), تَنَسَّكَ (tanassaka, “to be devout or virtuous or ascetic”), نَُِسك (nask, nusk, nisk, “devotion to a god”), مَنْسَِك (mansak, mansik, “place of ritual, stead frequented for ceremony”) have most probably been contrived on the model of the present term.