Middle English Dictionary Entry
zarab n.
Entry Info
| Forms | zarab n. Also zaras. |
| Etymology | OF; ult. Ar. |
Definitions (Senses and Subsenses)
1.
The optical illusion of water seen from a distance, a mirage.
Associated quotations
- a1475(1450) Scrope DSP (Bod 943)92/12 : Zaras is a shyning þat…semyth a-ferre þat it were water, for the reboundinge of the sonne, & nere it is nought.
- (a1460) DSPhilos.(Helm)93/11,14 : He that seketh the worlde is like him that seeth zarab and beleuyth that it is water and rennyth so faste for to drynke therof that he is wery; and whanne he cometh therto, he fyndes no thinge…zarab is a light that apperith in medowes and it is lyke, ferre of from a man, as it were watir by shynynge of the sonne and whanne a man cometh nygh it, thanne there is no-thinge.