ihtiyar

From Arabic اِخْتِيار‎ (iḵtiyār, “choice, selection”). The word has the sense “old man, shaykh” in Levantine Arabic, but it could be reborrowed from Turkish. The sense is possibly derived from the original meaning based on the idea that the elders (of a village, etc.) are select.

ihtiyar (comparative daha ihtiyar, superlative en ihtiyar)

1. old (person)

• yaşlı (more common)

• genç