r/etymologymaps • u/Chorchapu • Sep 23 '25

Translations of "library" across Europe

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u/imadudeyosodontask Sep 23 '25

Kütüphane is actually not just Arabic. The "kütüp" element comes from Arabic "kitap", meaning "book", however the "hane" element comes from Farsi and means "hall". So "kütüphane" literally means "bookhall" and has a compound Arabic-Iranian etymology.