Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2021 December 25

= December 25 =

A question in Turkish
What's the difference between masa and sofra? They both meaning table. 2A0D:6FC0:8340:A600:C596:DCA7:9591:58F0 (talk) 08:28, 25 December 2021 (UTC)


 * wordreference.com masa / sofra says (if I'm reading it correctly) that masa is the physical item of furniture, whereas sofra is the concept of a table prepared for eating and originally referred to a sort of picnic blanket. Alansplodge (talk) 11:25, 25 December 2021 (UTC)
 * I can confirm that this is correct. Interestingly, the word sofra is etymologically related to safari, sharing a common root meaning "journey". The word entered Turkish through Persian but is ultimately Arabic, originally referring to the blanket used by the Bedouin for wrapping the food taken on a journey, also serving to sit on after unwrapping. --Lambiam 16:47, 25 December 2021 (UTC)