ܡܰܪܕܘܰܓ mrdwg mardwaḡ the root of the wild pomegranate (?), emended to ܡܪܕܪܘܓ *mrdrwg by Fraenkel
Allotropes: ܡܕܪܘܓ mdrwg; ܡܪܕܢܘܓ mrdnwg; ܡܪܕܪܘܓ mrdrwg
LS records this term, of uncertain meaning but probably of Iranian origin, in the form mrdwg; in BB 1153, 13, however, according to Duval, the term has the form mdrwg, with the allotrope mrdnwg. Fraenkel, quoted in Duval index pers. 226, proposes the emendation to *mrdrwg. In this form the term is quoted in PS 2219 and PS Suppl. 200, where the meaning "wild pomegranate" is given as certain. Duval believes that the Syr. word was borrowed from an Ir. compound, whose second element is MP dārūg, NP dārū drug, medicament. The identification of the first element is more difficult: Fraenkel (in Duval, cit.) thought of MP, NP mār "snake" and proposed as the model of the borrowing NP mār dārū "remedium anguis", whereas Duval himself suggests NP mardumān dārū "remedium hominis", that is to say, the first element would be MP mardōm, NP mardum "man, mankind, people". Fraenkel's hypothesis fits in well with the passage in Med 607, 8 which has been kindly called to my attention by Gignoux (personal communication), where the word is explained in this way: “le remède de serpent, i.e. le mrdrwg, qui est la racine de ʾrm” (transl. by Gignoux). It thus seems likely that the model of the loanword is MP mār dārūg, lit. "remedium anguis", whatever the exact meaning of this expression may be ● mrdwg BB 1153, 16; mrdrwg Med 607, 8 ◆ LS 403b; Löw 365; Duval index pers. 226; PS 2219; PS Comp. 299; PS Suppl. 200