IN GREEK
καντάρι
kantari
steelyard balance; old unit of weight (44 okes)
IN TURKISH
kantar
kantar
weighbridge, large scale; steelyard
WEAR THE WORD
καντάρι in blue ink and kantar in red, on a T shirt, a tote or a mug.
THE RECORD
- LENT BY, BORROWED BY
- Round trip
- STARTED IN
- Latin
- CATEGORY
- Trade and money
- HOW THE MEANING DRIFTED
- Greek also uses it for a traditional unit of weight, while Turkish now mainly means a weighbridge.
- NOTES
- Arabic qinṭār, usually traced to Latin centenarium, commonly via Byzantine Greek κεντηνάριον, so the word may have passed through Greek before returning; Greek καντάρι via Turkish. Nişanyan takes kantar from Arabic qinṭār, from Middle Greek kentinárion, from Latin centenarium, so Greek καντάρι is the Turkish form of a word that passed through Greek, the same pattern as οκά.
COMMENTS
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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) ‘καντάρι / kantar’, entry 196, Defter ή Tefteri: a ledger of shared Greek and Turkish words. https://defteritefteri.com/en/w/196-kantari/. Accessed [day month year].