عربون

عَرَبُون (noun)

Etymology: Borrowed from Aramaic עַרְבֹונָא (ʿarbōnā, “pledge”), in an other form Aramaic עֲרוּבְתַָּא (ʿărūḇtā, “pledge”), related to עֲרַב (ʿăraḇ, “to vouch for”), such meanings of the root are suspected to have spread into Northwest Semitic from Akkadian 𒂊𒊒𒁀𒁺 (/⁠erubātu⁠/, “pledge, tantum”, literally “a state of entering into something, initiating or showing intent (to do business)”) or natively derived from the Proto-Semitic *ʕrb- (“to communicate, to show or declare, to make clear ones meaning or intent; to get mixed or involved with, to do business with”), whence also comes عَرَب (ʕarab, “Arab”), stemming from the presenting of gifts and pledging to return next time with another as a means of conducting business in gift economies, the common practice found among nomadic and tribal cultures who make transactions with other groups when they crossed at certain times and places as both were constantly shifting locations.
Cognates
* Amharic ዓረቦን (ʿaräbon)
* Ancient Greek ἀρραβών (arrhabṓn)
* Latin arrhabō, arrha
* Old Armenian ռաբունայ (ṙabunay)
* Hebrew עירבון / עֵרָבוֹן (ʿērāḇōn)
* Ugaritic 𐎓𐎗𐎁𐎐 (ʿrbn)
* Ge'ez ዐረቦን (ʿäräbon)
* Tigre ዕርቡን (ʿərbun)
* Tigrinya ዕርቦን (ʿərbon)

Meaning: down payment, earnest money, retainer, pledge; token, pledge, symbol

From Wiktionary: عربون, by Wiktionary contributors, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.