զատիկ

Inherited from Old Armenian զատիկ (zatik). For the development of the sense of “ladybug” in dialects, compare the name of that insect in various languages: Russian божья коровка (božʹja korovka, literally “God's cow”), Lithuanian dievo karvytė (literally “God's cow”), Romanian vaca domnului (literally “God's cow”), German Marienkäfer (literally “Mary’s beetle”), English ladybug (literally “Lady's (Mary's) bug”).

• (Eastern Armenian) IPA^(key): /zɑˈtik/, [zɑtík]
• (Western Armenian) IPA^(key): /zɑˈdiɡ/, [zɑdíɡ]

• Audio (Eastern Armenian):

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զատիկ • (zatik)

1. (Judaism, often capitalized) Passover
2. (Christianity, often capitalized) Easter

   զատկի ձու ― zatki ju ― Easter egg

3. (by extension) holiday, feast

զատիկ • (zatik)

1. ladybird, ladybug

• → Northern Kurdish: zadik
• → Ottoman Turkish: زادیگ (zadik)
• → Udi: заьтӏикӏ (zäṭiḳ)

According to Martirosyan, who develops J̌ahukyan's etymology, the word originally meant “sacrificial animal (particularly cow or heifer) devoted to/representing the Goddess Anahit; spring festival of the cow sacrifice” and is derived from զատանեմ (zatanem, “to separate”) +‎ -իկ (-ik).

Alternatively, according to Hovhannisyan, զատիկ (zatik, “sacrifice”) is an Iranian borrowing, ultimately from Proto-Iranian *ǰati-ka-; compare Middle Persian ztn' (zadan, “to hit, beat, strike, smite”), the present stem zn- (zan-) of which is seen in Old Armenian զենում (zenum, “to slaughter an animal, to sacrifice”).

զատիկ • (zatik)

1. victim, sacrifice
2. (Judaism) Passover

   Synonym: կիր (kir)

   զատիկ հրէից ― zatik hrēicʻ ― the Passover

   գառն զատկի ― gaṙn zatki ― paschal lamb

3. (Christianity, sometimes capitalized) Easter

   խթումն զատկի ― xtʻumn zatki ― Easter Eve

4. (by extension) holiday, feast

• Armenian: զատիկ (zatik)
  • → Northern Kurdish: zadik
  • → Ottoman Turkish: زادیگ (zadik)
  • → Udi: заьтӏикӏ (zäṭiḳ)
• → Old Georgian: ზატიკი (zaṭiḳi)
  • Georgian: ზადიკი (zadiḳi), ზატიკი (zaṭiḳi)

• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “զատիկ”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “զատիկ”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971–1979) “զատիկ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (1991) “Stugabanutʻyunner [Etymologies]”, in Patma-banasirakan handes [Historical-Philological Journal]‎^[1] (in Armenian), number 2, Yerevan: Academy Press, pages 38–39
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) “zatik”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden and Boston: Brill, pages 273–274