Shishas

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A type of water pipe used for smoking flavored tobacco and producing large volumes of smoke, typically enjoyed in social settings
2. A traditional device originating from the Middle East, designed for inhaling vaporized substances through water filtration
3. A cultural smoking instrument known for its elaborate designs, used to enjoy various aromatic blends while socializing with others

Etymology: "Shishas" is the plural of "shisha," the name for the water pipe used across the Middle East. The noun's ultimate source is a Classical Persian word meaning "glass" or "mirror," which passed into Arabic in Egypt as "šīša" and then into Ottoman Turkish as "şişe," meaning "bottle." The word thus began as a description of the material the pipe's water chamber was made from, not of the smoking itself. The path from Persian to Arabic and Turkish shows how a single term for glass spread across a wide region. Because the vessel that holds the water is typically glass, the name transferred from the material to the whole device. Speakers in Egypt adopted the Arabic form, and the word then travelled onward into other varieties of Arabic and beyond.

Synonyms: hookahs, water pipes, narghiles, hubble-bubbles, waterpipes