զատիկ

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]

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

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

   զատիկ հրէից ― zatik hrēicʿ ― the Passover

   գառն զատկի ― gaṙn zatki ― paschal lamb

3. (Christianity, sometimes capitalized) Easter

   խթումն զատկի ― xtʿumn zatki ― Easter Eve

4. (by extension) holiday, feast

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

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