girafe (French)

Where does "girafe" come from?

The French word 'girafe' traces its roots back to the Persian 'zurnāpā', a compound meaning 'flute-leg' which describes the animal's long, thin limbs. This term was adapted into Arabic as 'zurāfa' before entering European languages via the Italian 'giraffa' during the Middle Ages. Eventually, the word moved from Middle French into modern usage, where its meaning expanded from the long-necked mammal to include mechanical equipment like camera booms.

Full etymology tree

• girafe (French), 'giraffe (mammal)'
  • inherited from giraffe (Middle French), 'giraffe (mammal)'
    • borrowed from giraffa (Italian), 'giraffe (mammal)'
      • borrowed from zurāfa (Arabic)
        • borrowed from zārīp̄ā (Classical Syriac)
          • borrowed from zurnāpā (Classical Persian)
            • compound of zurnā (Classical Persian)
              • derived from *ḱerh₂- (Proto-Indo-European), 'head, top'
            • compound of pā (Classical Persian)
              • inherited from pāda (Middle Persian)
                • inherited from *pā́dah (Proto-Iranian), 'foot'
                  • derived from *pā́ts (Proto-Indo-Iranian), 'foot'
                    • inherited from *pṓds (Proto-Indo-European), 'foot'
                      • derived from *ped- (Proto-Indo-European), 'to walk, to step'
                      • suffix *-s (Proto-Indo-European), 'Derives feminine mobile-accented root nouns from roots.'

Ancestors

• *ḱerh₂- (Proto-Indo-European)
• giraffe (Middle French)
• giraffa (Italian)

Descendants and derived words

• жираф (Bulgarian)
• жирафа (Bulgarian)
• girafa (Catalan)
• girafeau (French)
• girafon (French)
• Giraff (Luxembourgish)
• żyrafa (Polish)
• girafă (Romanian)
• жираф (Russian)
• жираф (Russian)
• giraff (Swedish)

Updated March 2026

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Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris