The original attested meaning is “assistant”, and the political sense only arose in the Umayyad period. Likely related to the verb وَزَرَ (wazara, “to carry, to shoulder”) with the root و ز ر (w-z-r), meaning “someone who carries a burden”, but owing to the idea of assistance by handmen this may be denominal. Likely borrowed from an Iranian term surfacing as Middle Persian (wcyl /vičīr/, “decision, judgment”), Avestan 𐬬𐬍𐬗𐬌𐬭𐬀 (vīcira, “arbitrator, judge”, literally “deciding, one who is taking or has made a decision”).
وَزِير • (wazīr) m (plural وُزَرَاء (wuzarāʔ), feminine وَزِيرَة (wazīra))
Singular | basic singular triptote | ||
---|---|---|---|
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | وَزِير wazīr |
الْوَزِير al-wazīr |
وَزِير wazīr |
Nominative | وَزِيرٌ wazīrun |
الْوَزِيرُ al-wazīru |
وَزِيرُ wazīru |
Accusative | وَزِيرًا wazīran |
الْوَزِيرَ al-wazīra |
وَزِيرَ wazīra |
Genitive | وَزِيرٍ wazīrin |
الْوَزِيرِ al-wazīri |
وَزِيرِ wazīri |
Dual | Indefinite | Definite | Construct |
Informal | وَزِيرَيْن wazīrayn |
الْوَزِيرَيْن al-wazīrayn |
وَزِيرَيْ wazīray |
Nominative | وَزِيرَانِ wazīrāni |
الْوَزِيرَانِ al-wazīrāni |
وَزِيرَا wazīrā |
Accusative | وَزِيرَيْنِ wazīrayni |
الْوَزِيرَيْنِ al-wazīrayni |
وَزِيرَيْ wazīray |
Genitive | وَزِيرَيْنِ wazīrayni |
الْوَزِيرَيْنِ al-wazīrayni |
وَزِيرَيْ wazīray |
Plural | basic broken plural diptote | ||
Indefinite | Definite | Construct | |
Informal | وُزَرَاء wuzarāʔ |
الْوُزَرَاء al-wuzarāʔ |
وُزَرَاء wuzarāʔ |
Nominative | وُزَرَاءُ wuzarāʔu |
الْوُزَرَاءُ al-wuzarāʔu |
وُزَرَاءُ wuzarāʔu |
Accusative | وُزَرَاءَ wuzarāʔa |
الْوُزَرَاءَ al-wuzarāʔa |
وُزَرَاءَ wuzarāʔa |
Genitive | وُزَرَاءَ wuzarāʔa |
الْوُزَرَاءِ al-wuzarāʔi |
وُزَرَاءِ wuzarāʔi |
Chess pieces in Arabic · (layout · text) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
شَاه (šāh) | وَزِير (wazīr) | رُخّ (ruḵḵ) – قَلْعَة (qalʕa) | فِيل (fīl) | حِصَان (ḥiṣān) | بَيْدَق (baydaq) – جُنْدِيّ (jundiyy) |
وزير • (Wëzír) m
وزير • (wazīr) m (plural وزرا (wuzara))
Chess pieces in South Levantine Arabic · قطع الشطرنج (ʔuṭaʕ iš-šaṭranj) (layout · text) | |||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
ملك (malik) | ملكة (malike) | قلعة (ʔalʕa) | وزير (wazīr) | حصان (ḥsān) | جندي (jundi) |