For the use as a seating arrangement, see Jastrow s.v. גורן p. 227. This usage, along with the similarity to the word
ˀdrwn "inner chamber", led to the distinctive Zohairic usages of the word as both a meeting room and a portion of the Zohar itself.
It has been suggested that the word itself is a loan from Akkadian
adru (see
ALIS pp. 149ff., 261ff.), but given the antiquity and ubiquity of the threshing floor in the Near East, as well as the generally accepted Amorite origin of the Babylonian month names (i.e., Adar refers to the time of year the
adar was used), almost certainly an ancient culture word. Note, too, its use in place names in the Hebrew Bible, although the common word for this in Biblical Hebrew itself is גֹרֶן. On the other hand, since Palestinian Arabic
bēdar is clearly from Aramaic בי דר (see s.v.
by dry) and the need to distinguish among various elements connected with the threshing process, that a need for a borrowed form was felt cannot be absolutely excluded.