العراق

In medieval Arabic geography, the toponym referred to the southern and central parts of present-day Iraq. The word was taken as the definite form of عِرَاق (ʕirāq, “shore, edge, any land next to water”), in contrast with الْجَزِيرَة (al-jazīra, “the Arabian Peninsula”), called ܓܙܺܝܪܬܴ݁ܐ (gəzīrtā, “Mesopotamia”) in Syriac. Some sources suggest an origin in Middle Persian. Forms like (ˀyrg /⁠ērag⁠/) or (ˀl'k' /⁠erāg⁠/, “lowlands”) are related to the same root as 𐭠𐭩𐭥𐭠𐭭 (ʾyrʾn /⁠ērān⁠/, “Iran”) an