Inherited from Middle Persian *hwlʾk' (/⁠xwarāg⁠/). By surface analysis, خور (xwar /xor, present stem of خوردن (xwardan /xordan, “to eat, to drink, to corrode, to collide with, to fit”)) + ـاک (-āk /-âk, alternative form of ـا (-ā /-â)). Akin to Old Armenian խորակ (xorak), an Iranian borrowing.