արջն

The origin is uncertain. Has been compared to արջ (arǰ, “bear”), արջառ (arǰaṙ, “cattle”); Ancient Greek ὄρφνη (órphnē, “darkness of night”); Proto-Nakh *ʡārč̣iᶰ; Khotanese rrāṣa (“dark-coloured”), Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬘𐬌𐬱 (rajiš, “darkness”), Sanskrit रजस् (rájas, “darkness”), रजनी (rájanī, “night”); Georgian არჯაკელი (arǯaḳeli), არჯიოკა (arǯioḳa).

Most likely the Armenian word is borrowed from Iranian. Note also the compound արջասպ (arǰasp, “vitriol”), wherein the -ասպ (-asp) is from Iranian and is not used in Armenian independently; therefore that compound is probably wholly-borrowed from Iranian.

արջն • (arǰn)

1. black

   Synonym: սեաւ (seaw)

   • 5th century, Pʿawstos Buzand, Hayoc Patmutʿiwnʿ [History of the Armenians] III.14:[1]

     Եւ յաւուրս ձմերանոյն՝ յորժամ կուտեալ դիզեալ զմեծութիւն բազմութիւն թանձրութեան ձեանցն կուտակեալ հիւս ձեանցն ի վերայ ձմերային լերանցն՝ յայնպիսի լերանց ի վերայ ընդ այնպիսի ժամանակի կամէր ուրեք երթալ ի պէտս ճանապարհի, յանկարծօրէն ձիւնն ցամաք արջն լինէր առաջի նորա։

     Ew yawurs jmeranoyn, yoržam kuteal dizeal zmecutʻiwn bazmutʻiwn tʻanjrutʻean jeancʻn kutakeal hiws jeancʻn i veray jmerayin lerancʻn, yaynpisi lerancʻ i veray ənd aynpisi žamanaki kamēr urekʻ ertʻal i pēts čanaparhi, yankarcōrēn jiwnn cʻamakʻ arǰn linēr aṙaǰi nora.

     • Translation by Nina G. Garsoïan

       And in wintertime, when a great thickness of snow was piled on the wintery mountains, and he wished to cross somewhere over such mountains at such a time because of the needs of a journey somewhere, the snow suddenly became black earth before him.

Outside compounds, արջն (arǰn) is independently attested only in the quoted passage of Buzand. But Greppin here too sees a compound ցամաք-արջն (cʻamakʻ-arǰn, “utterly black”).

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971) “արջն”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume I, Yerevan: University Press, pages 335–336
• Greppin, John A. C. (1983) “An Etymological Dictionary of the Indo-European Components of Armenian”, in Bazmavep‎, volume 141, numbers 1–4, Venice, pages 315–316
• Hovhannisyan, L. Š. (2010) “արջն”, in Grabari baṙaran. Nor haykazyan baṙaranum čʻvkayvac baṙer [Dictionary of Old Armenian. Words Unattested in the New Haykazyan Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Edit Print, page 60a
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (1981) “Hay-iranakan zugadipumner [Armenian–Iranian concurrences]”, in Banber Erewani hamalsarani [“Banber” – Bulletin of Yerevan University]‎ (in Armenian), number 2, pages 21–22
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (1987) Hayocʻ lezvi patmutʻyun; naxagrayin žamanakašrǰan [History of the Armenian language: The Pre-Literary Period]‎ (in Armenian), Yerevan: Academy Press, pages 517, 609
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010) “արջն”, in Vahan Sargsyan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, page 95b
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) “arǰn”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 145