Long considered a compound fromسام(sâm,“fire, flame”), andاندر(andar,“inside”) by most Persian dictionaries.[1]
This would be etymologically correct because a synonym of salamander in Persian isآذرشین(âzaršin, literally“fire-sitter”)[2] and this animal has been long featured inPersian mythology andPersian literature.
However,Dehkhoda rejects this derivation, and contends that it isfolk etymology; asسمندر(samandar), is most likely fromAncient Greekσαλαμάνδρα(salamándra).[3] But the origin of the Greek term is uncertain and there is a small possibility that it is from Persian.
Samundar is standard Urdu, although Fallon (repeated by Shams-ud-Din Farooqi) notes thatsamundar is prevalent in the Eastern [Indian] provinces (states), such asUP.Samandar (not to be confused with the noun meaning 'salamander') is considered dialectal which is prevalent in Punjabic Urdu and Delhi Urdu, and neighbouring regions.
“سمندر”, inاُردُو لُغَت(urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan,2017.
“سمندر”, inریخْتَہ لُغَت(rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary[Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation,2025.
Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971), “سمندر”, inKitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
Platts, John T. (1884), “سمندر”, inA dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
Fallon, S. W. (1879), “سمندر”, inA New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
John Shakespear (1834), “سمندر”, inA dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son,→OCLC
