# حور
## Arabic
### Etymology

* From the root ح و ر (ḥ-w-r).
* The Arabic term for the poplar is probably borrowed from Classical Syriac ܚܘܪܐ (ḥawwərā), considering that
*   * the range of distribution of the white poplar is outside Arabia, but inside the Aramaic language area
*   * the Syriac root as well as this Syriac word are in broader use for terms related to whiteness in general and in botanical application
*   * the Arabic has multiple vocalizations, ḥawwar, ḥawar, hawr (dialectally also ḥōr and ḥūr), of which ḥawwar sounds foreign for a plant name
* But the insinuation by Alexander Borg 2007 that every Arabic word in this root denoting whiteness is a “substratal reflex” from Aramaic is to be dismissed. Such a separation is not conceivable: The Arabic root means in as much “contrasting white” as it means “returning”, “changing one’s position or state”. In the same section Borg fails to earmark يَرَقَان (yaraqān, “blight; jaundice”) as Aramaic-borrowed or to outline any causally plausible chronology of color expressions.

### Verb

حَوِرَ • (ḥawira) I (non-past يَحْوَرُ (yaḥwaru), verbal noun حَوَر (ḥawar))
* to be intensely white

#### Conjugation
### Verb

حَوَّرَ • (ḥawwara) II (non-past يُحَوِّرُ (yuḥawwiru), verbal noun تَحْوِير (taḥwīr))
* to make return
* to alter, to modify
* to turn about, to twist, to roll
* to whiten, to bleach

#### Conjugation
### Noun

حَوْر • (ḥawr) m
* verbal noun of حَارَ (ḥāra) (form I)

#### Declension
### Noun

حَوَر • (ḥawar) m
* verbal noun of حَوِرَ (ḥawira) (form I)
** intense whiteness

#### Declension
### Noun

حَوَّر or حَوَر or حَوْر • (ḥawwar or ḥawar or ḥawr) m
* poplar (Populus)

#### Descendants

* → Middle Armenian: հավր (havr, “white poplar”)

#### Further reading

* حور (نبات) on the Arabic Wikipedia.Wikipedia $^{ar}$

### Noun

حَوَر • (ḥawar) m (collective, singulative حَوَرَة f (ḥawara), plural حَوَرَان (ḥawarān) or حُورَان (ḥūrān) or أَحْوَار (ʔaḥwār))
* intensely white, yellow or red hides of which receptacles are made or covered

#### Declension
### Adjective

حُور • (ḥūr) m pl
* plural of أَحْوَر (ʔaḥwar)

#### Descendants

* → Classical Persian: حور (hur)
** → Bengali: হুর (hur)
** → Hindustani
    Urdu: حور (hūr)
    Hindi: हूर (hūr)
** → Punjabi
    Gurmukhi script: ਹੂਰ (hūr)
    Shahmukhi script: حور (hūr)

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian حُور (hūr, “houri”), from Arabic حُور (ḥūr).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /ɦuːɾ/
* Rhymes: -uːɾ

### Noun

حور • (hūr) f (Hindi spelling हूर)
* (Islam) houri, a beautiful virgin-nymph that resides in Paradise, a reward exclusively for Muslim believers
* (by extension) an incredibly beautiful woman

#### Derived terms

* حُور وَش (hūr-vaś, “beautiful”, literally “houri-like”)
* حُورانِ بَہِشْت (hūrān-e-bahiśt, “virgins of Paradise”)
* حُورانِ بَہِشْتی (hūrān-e-bahiśtī, “celestial virgins”)

#### See also

* پری (parī)

### References

* “حور”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “حور”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
* Platts, John T. (1884) “حور”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
* “حور”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
* “ḥwr”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
* “ḥwr$^2$”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
* Borg, Alexander (2007) Robert E. MacLaury, Galina V. Paramei, Don Dedrick, editors, Towards a history and typology of color categorization in colloquial Arabic, Amsterdam, Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing, →ISBN, pages 269–271
* Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 32
* Freytag, Georg (1830) “حور”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎ (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, pages 439–440
* Lane, Edward William (1863) “حور”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎, London: Williams & Norgate, page 665
* Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 3, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 322–340
* Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “حور”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎ (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 302