IN GREEK
μεϊντάνι
meintani
open space, the open (dated)
IN TURKISH
meydan
meydan
public square; open arena
WEAR THE WORD
μεϊντάνι in blue ink and meydan in red, on a T shirt, a tote or a mug.
THE RECORD
- LENT BY, BORROWED BY
- Turkish to Greek
- STARTED IN
- Persian
- CATEGORY
- Places
- HOW THE MEANING DRIFTED
- Greek survives mainly in phrases about bringing something into the open; Turkish is the ordinary word for a city square.
- NOTES
- Dated in Greek. Arabic maydān is sometimes traced further back to Persian. Nişanyan says meydan came from Arabic and Persian maydān, which goes back to Middle Persian miḏyān, so the ultimate origin is Persian.
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) ‘μεϊντάνι / meydan’, entry 313, Defter ή Tefteri: a ledger of shared Greek and Turkish words. https://defteritefteri.com/en/w/313-meintani/. Accessed [day month year].