IN GREEK
καντήλι
kantili
oil lamp, especially before icons
IN TURKISH
kandil
kandil
oil lamp; Islamic holy night
WEAR THE WORD
καντήλι in blue ink and kandil in red, on a T shirt, a tote or a mug.
THE RECORD
- LENT BY, BORROWED BY
- Shared from a third language
- STARTED IN
- Latin
- CATEGORY
- Household
- HOW THE MEANING DRIFTED
- Turkish kandil also names the holy nights of the Islamic calendar.
- NOTES
- Latin candela entered Byzantine Greek as κανδήλα; Turkish kandil came through Arabic qindīl, which is itself traced to Greek or Aramaic.
COMMENTS
An editor reads every comment before it appears.
SOURCES
- Nişanyan Sözlük (checked online)
Etymologies are checked against the dictionaries and studies listed. An entry is stamped settled only when both the Greek and the Turkish side have been checked. Research for this ledger was compiled with AI assistance and reviewed by the editors.
HOW TO CITE THIS ENTRY
Gold, K. (ed.) (2026) ‘καντήλι / kandil’, entry 100, Defter ή Tefteri: a ledger of shared Greek and Turkish words. https://defteritefteri.com/en/w/100-kantili/. Accessed [day month year].