kobay (Turkish)

Where does "kobay" come from?

The Turkish word 'kobay' originates from Ottoman Turkish 'kobay'[1][4], which was borrowed from the French 'cobaye'[1][2]. The term traces back to the Portuguese 'cobaia'[1][3], which itself is derived from the Old Tupi 'çabuia'[1][4]. This original Tupi term comes from 'saûîasobaîa', a compound meaning 'foreign tree rat'[3]. The figurative sense of a person used for experimentation is likely a semantic loan from the English term 'guinea pig'[3], which evolved due to the animal's historical role in scientific research[5].

Open questions

• The transition from the Tupi form starting with a soft c sound to the Portuguese form starting with a hard c is considered irregular and potentially the result of a misprint or misreading. [3]

Full etymology tree

• kobay (Turkish), 'guinea pig (animal)'
  • inherited قوبای (Ottoman Turkish), 'guinea pig (animal)'
    • borrowed cobaye (French), 'guinea pig'
      • borrowed cobaia (Portuguese), 'synonym of porquinho-da-índia'
        • inherited çobaîa (Old Tupi)
          • clipping saûîasobaîa (Old Tupi)

Ancestors

• قوبای (Ottoman Turkish)
• cobaye (French)
• cobaia (Portuguese)

Sources

1. kobay (Turkish) - Wiktionary
2. cobaye (French) - Wiktionary
3. cobaia (Portuguese) - Wiktionary
4. قوبای (Ottoman Turkish) - Wiktionary
5. guinea pig (English) - Wiktionary

Updated August 2026

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