OUR LITTLE IGNORANCE

Monsoon. - From the Arabic mausim, "fixed time, festival, fair" and also "favorable season for the voyage to the Indies." Monsoons are known to be regular winds that blow across the Indian Ocean for six months on one side and six months on the opposite side.

Narghileh or hookah. - This is an oriental pipe in which the smoke passes through a flask of flavored water before arriving, bland and cold, at the smoker's mouth. The word comes from the Persian narghil, "coconut tree, coconut," because, says E. Quatremère, "the capsule that contains the tobacco is made of a coconut, or at least resembles one."

Water lily. - From the Arabic-Persian niloufar or ninoúfar, which refers to this aquatic plant with broad leaves and pink or white flowers. It is undoubtedly the botanist Otto Bunfels, who died in 1534, who introduced this word; his contemporaries long retained the old Latin name nymphaea.

Nichan. - From the Persian nihân, "mark, sign, insignia." We know the Tunisian decoration "Nichan-Iftikar," created in 1837, and the Nichan-el-Aneouar, founded in 1887, which became a French colonial order nine years later.

Nape. - This is the posterior part of the neck, located below the occiput. The word comes from the Arabic noukha, which refers to the spinal cord. This was, in fact, the ancient meaning of nape in our language.

Orange. - Comes from the Arabic narandj, which refers to this delicious fruit. The initial n probably fell, due to a false assimilation, into the end of une, "a narange," which easily became "an orange." In Spanish, the word is naranja.

Orangutan. - The Malays refer to this species of ape by the expression orang-hutan, which means "man of the woods." It is unique to their country. Red-haired and feeding mainly on fruit, they lack the ferocity of the gorilla.

Easter. - The Latin pascha is the transcription of the Hebrew pesha, whose original meaning is "passage," the Jewish Passover being celebrated in memory of the exodus from Egypt. Needless to say, Easter, the greatest Christian holiday, commemorates the resurrection of Jesus Christ.