- Euphrates
- O.E. Eufrate, from Gk. Euphrates, from O.Pers. Ufratu, perhaps from Avestan huperethuua "good to cross over," from hu- "good" + peretu- "ford." But Kent says "probably a popular etymologizing in O.P. of a local non-Iranian name" ["Old Persian," p.176]. In Akkadian, purattu.
- Hebrew
- late O.E., from O.Fr. Ebreu, from L. Hebraeus, from Gk. Hebraios, from Aramaic 'ebhrai, corresponding to Heb. 'ibhri "an Israelite," lit. "one from the other side," in reference to the River Euphrates, or perhaps simply signifying "immigrant;" from 'ebher "region on the other or opposite side." Derogatory slang shortening Hebe is first recorded 1932.
- antelope
- lealy 15c., from O.Fr. antelop, from M.L. ant(h)alopus, from Gk. antholops (attested in Eusebius of Antioch, c.336 C.E.), a fabulous animal haunting the banks of the Euphrates, very savage, hard to catch and having long saw-like horns capable of cutting down trees. Original sense and language unknown (it looks like Gk. "flower-eye," as if from anthos + ops, but that may be a result of Gk. folk etymology). A heraldic animal, also known in M.L. as talopus and calopus, the name was applied in 1607 to a living type of deer-like mammal. In the western U.S., used in ref. to the pronghorn.
- weep (v.)
- O.E. wepan "shed tears, cry" (class VII strong verb; past tense weop, pp. wopen), from P.Gmc. *wopijanan (cf. O.N. op, O.H.G. wuof "shout, shouting, crying," O.S. wopian, Goth. wopjan "to shout, cry out, weep"). No certain cognates outside Gmc. Weepy first attested 1825. Weeping willow (cf. Fr. saule pleureur, Ger. trauerweide) is recorded from 1731. The tree is native to Asia; the first brought to England were imported 1748, from the Euphrates. Replaced cypress as a funerary emblem.
- Mesopotamia
- ancient name for the land that lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern Iraq), from Gk. mesopotamia (khora), lit. "the country between two rivers," from fem. of mesopotamos, from mesos "middle" + potamos "river" (see petition). In 19c. the word was used in the sense of "anything which gives irrational or inexplicable comfort to the hearer," based on the story of the old woman who told her pastor that she "found great support in that comfortable word Mesopotamia" ["Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase & Fable," 1870]. The place was called Mespot (1917) by British soldiers serving there in World War I.