арбуз (Russian)

Where does "арбуз" come from?

The Russian word 'арбуз' (arbuz) traces its roots back to the Persian word 'xarboz,' which originally referred to a melon. The term traveled through Turkic languages before being adopted into Old East Slavic, eventually settling into its modern Russian meaning of 'watermelon.'

Full etymology tree

• арбуз (Russian), 'watermelon'
  • inherited арбузъ (Old East Slavic)
    • borrowed خربز (xarboz) (Persian), 'alternative form of خربزه (xarboze)'

Ancestors

• خربز (Persian)

Descendants and derived words

• arbuus (Estonian)
• arbuusi (Finnish)
• arbuza (Ingrian)
• Arbus (Plautdietsch)
• arbuz (Polish)
• Erbus (Volga German)

Updated July 2026

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