نورس

Where it comes from

Unknown. Potentially borrowed from Persian مرغ نوروزی (morġ nowruzi, literally “bird of Nowruz or New Years”), but as the apparent connection to Nowruz is unknown, the later term may itself be borrowed from Arabic.

Possibly related to Latin larus, derived from Ancient Greek λάρος (láros, “ravenous sea bird; potentially seamew, gull”). What complicates such an immediate identification is the lack of intermediate borrowings in other Semitic or regional languages, sources such as Classical Syriac or Middle Persian. The initial sound change is plausible, with the occasional conflation of /l/ and /n/ in other Arabic words, especially those featuring both /l/ and /r/, which typically do not appear together in a native Arabic root; compare وَرَل (waral), وَرَن (waran, “monitor lizard”).