Note 271 — Chapter III
Reading edition
Dr. Mingana has given me the following note: "It is very probable that the Græco-Latin margarita, the Aramæo-Syriac margarita, the Arabic margan, and the Turanian margan are derived from the Persian mar-gân, meaning both 'pearl' and 'life,' or etymologically 'giver, owner, or possessor, of life'. The word gān, in Zend yān, is thoroughly Persian and is undoubtedly the original form of this expression."