The botanical genus name Carthamus derives from the Arabic verb
kurthum [قرطم]
“dye”, in reference to the usage of safflower flowers for textile dyeing.
The word also entered some Romance tongues, e.g.,
Italian cartamo or Catalan càrtam,
probably via Spanish cártamo;
Turkish kartam, on the other hand, is likely to be a direct loan
from Arabic.
The modern Arabic name of safflower, usfur [عصفر],
comes from an adjective asfar [اصفر] “yellow”.
The same root ṢPR “become yellow” also lies behind
the name “saffron”.
That name has been transferred into Ottoman Turkish asfur or
hasbir, and entered Spanish as alazor
according to the medieval Andalousian pronunciation al-asfur
(see also caper on Arabic loans in Iberic tongues).
Quite amazingly, Arabic usfur is also the source of the name
“safflower” and its cognates in various European languages, e.g.,
German Saflor, Finnish saflori and
Bulgarian and Russian saflor [сафлор].
These names were derived from usfur or asfur via Old Italian
asfiore (or saffiore) and Old French
saffleur. By folk etymology, the name was transformed
towards “saffron” and “flower” (Italian fiore,
French fleur).
The botanical species name tinctorius is an adjective
corresponding to the noun tinctor “dyer”, cf. the
English verb tint. Several European names of safflower contain
elements referring to “dye” or “colour”, e.g., Swedish
färgtistel, Estonian värvisafloor,
German Färberdistel and Romanian
pintenogă colorantă.
Färber “dyer” in the German name
Färbersaflor is the nomen agentis to
the noun Farbe (cognate to Dutch verf)
“colour; dye”; these words are difficult to explain
etymologically. An Indo-European root PERK- “coloured, speckled” is
often used to denote colourful animals: (Greek perkos [πέρκος]
“sparrow-hawk”, prox [πρόξ] “deer” or German Forelle “trout”). Arguments against this derivation come from
Gothic farw- “shape”, which falls in line with Old Irish
krunth and Sanskrit krip [कृप्] “shape”
and Latin corpus “body; shape”. The meaning “colour”
might thus be a more recent semantic shift from “shape”, restricted to
Germanic tongues. But the Gothic word might also be interpreted as a loan
from Arabic farwa [فرو] “(colourful) fur; clothing”.
Many European languages name safflower as “false saffron” or the
like, e.g., Portuguese falso-açafrão, Italian
falso zafferano or French safran bâtard
“bastard saffron”.
