ցեց

From Old Armenian ցեց (cʻecʻ).

• (Eastern Armenian) IPA^(key): /t͡sʰet͡sʰ/, [t͡sʰet͡sʰ]
• (Western Armenian) IPA^(key): /t͡set͡s/, [t͡sʰet͡sʰ]

• Audio (Eastern Armenian):

  (file)

ցեց • (cʻecʻ)

1. moth

   Synonym: մղմող (mġmoġ)

2. a kind of skin disease
3. (figuratively) something or someone who oppresses, exploits, consumes or spoils something or someone
4. (figuratively) restless person

The origin is uncertain. Similar words for moth are found in neighbouring languages: Udi цӏецӏ (c̣ec̣), Proto-Georgian-Zan *c₁ic₁-, Akkadian 𒌨𒈨 (sāsu), Classical Syriac ܣܣܐ (sāsā), Ancient Greek σής (sḗs) etc. The Armenian is often considered a Semitic borrowing, even though Semitic s is incompatible with Armenian ց (cʻ). To overcome this problem, Ačaṙean assumes derivation from Akkadian 𒍝𒀀𒍮 (ṣāṣu), a supposed emphatic form of the more common 𒌨𒈨 (/⁠sāsu⁠/); however, the existence of this alternative emphatic form found in Muss-Arnolt but not in more recent references is in doubt.

We may be dealing with independent expressive formations for insects in various languages, like in the case of ճճի (čči).

ցեց • (cʻecʻ)

1. moth
2. (pathology) herpes

• ցեցակեր (cʻecʻaker)
• ցեցակերեալ (cʻecʻakereal)
• ցեցամէց (cʻecʻamēcʻ)

• Armenian: ցեց (cʻecʻ)

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1979) “ցեց”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume IV, Yerevan: University Press, pages 453–454
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “ցեց”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1892) “Die semitischen Lehnwörter im Altarmenischen”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[1] (in German), volume 46, page 251
• Hübschmann, Heinrich (1897) Armenische Grammatik. 1. Theil: Armenische Etymologie (in German), Leipzig: Breitkopf & Härtel, page 317
• Muss-Arnolt, William (1905) A Concise Dictionary of the Assyrian Language, volume II, Berlin: Reuther & Reichard, page 887b
• Nikolaev, Sergei L., Starostin, Sergei A. (1994) “*miʒ_Ă / *ʒ_imiʒĂ”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary‎^[2], Moscow: Asterisk Publishers
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 939
• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “ցեց”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Schulze, Wolfgang (2001) The Udi Gospels: Annotated Text, Etymological Index, Lemmatized Concordance (Languages of the World/Text Library; 5)‎^[3], Munich: Lincom Europa, page 264b
• Zimmern, Heinrich (1915) Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (in German), Leipzig: A. Edelmann, page 52