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pharaoh

FAIR-oh · noun

Origin

The word comes from Egyptian pr-ꜥꜣ, literally "great house," combining pr ("house") and ꜥꜣ ("great, big"). It passed through Biblical Hebrew Parʿō, Koine Greek Pharaṓ, Late Latin Pharaō, and Old English Pharao before reaching Middle English as pharao, pharaon, farao, or faraon.

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Journey

What began as a term for the royal palace itself shifted to refer to the ruler who lived inside it, and that meaning is the one that survived into English.

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From Biblical Hebrew

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