Etymology

As noted by Martirosyan, numerous etymologies have been proposed, none of which is unproblematic. According to him the form աղիջ ‎(ałiǰ) is secondary and the word goes back to Proto-Armenian *ałǰ- ‎(“girl”), which is an old feminine. After that two origins seem the most probable:

1) The word basically means ‘female grinder’ and derives from Proto-Indo-European *h₂l-i(e)h₂-, from *h₂l- ‎(“to grind”), whence աղամ ‎(ałam), since the labour of grinding was mainly performed by women. This derivation was originally proposed by Meillet. Typologically compare Ancient Greek ἀλετρίς ‎(aletrís, “female slave who grinds corn”), from ἀλέω ‎(aléō, “to grind”), a cognate of աղամ ‎(ałam).

2) According to J̌ahukyan, the word basically means ‘young female’, from Proto-Indo-European *plH-i(e)h₂- and related to ուլ ‎(ul).

For the sense development “girl” → “prostitute” see the notes in բոզ ‎(boz).