The origin is unknown. According to NHB,[1] attested in Mxitʻar Goš's Law Code (late 12th century) as Middle Armenianաշարայ(ašaray), but the exact place of attestation is unknown.
Possibly a Semitic borrowing, ultimately from the word for "hair"։ compare Arabicشَعِير(šaʕīr, “barley”), شَعْرَى(šaʕrā, “macchia”), شَعْر(šaʕr), شَعَر(šaʕar) in plural أَشْعَار(ʔašʕār, “hair; bristles”). Typologically compare վարսակ(varsak).
Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1913) “աշարայ”, in Hayerēn gawaṙakan baṙaran [Armenian Provincial Dictionary] (Ēminean azgagrakan žoġovacu; 9) (in Armenian), Tiflis: Lazarev Institute of Oriental Languages, page 113b
Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971) “աշարայ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume I, Yerevan: University Press, page 216a
Ališan, Ġewond (1895) “աշորայ”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʻiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 132, page 43
Ališan, Ġewond (1895) “աշարայ”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʻiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 126, page 42
Ayvazyan H. M. et al., editors (2006), “աշորա”, in Hayastani bnašxarh [Nature of Armenia] (Əntanekan hanragitaran matenašar; 3) (in Armenian), Yerevan: Armenian Encyclopaedia, page 207b
Bdoyan, Vard (2014) J̌avaxkʻi hayocʻ azgagrutʻyunə ew žoġovrdakan banarvestə [The Armenian ethnography and folklore of Javakhk] (in Armenian), Yerevan: University Press, page 184, footnote 168
Hambardzumyan, Vazguen (2014) Armenian and Indo-European: Essays on Comparative Lexicology of the Armenian Language (Comparative-typological Variativity), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 77
Džaukjan, G. B. (1967) Очерки по истории дописьменного периода армянского языка[An Outline of the History of the Pre-Literary Period of the Armenian Language] (in Russian), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 308
Kostandyan, D. M. (1979) Erznkayi barbaṙə [The Dialect of Yerznka] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 151a
Lagarde, Paul de (1854) Zur Urgeschichte der Armenier: ein philologischer Versuch (in German), Berlin: W. Hertz, § 486, page 19
Ġazaryan, Ṙuben (1981) “աշորա”, in Busanunneri hayeren-latineren-ṙuseren-angleren-franseren-germaneren baṙaran [Armenian–Latin–Russian–English–French–German Dictionary of Plant Names], Yerevan: University Press, § 59, page 10a
Malxaseancʻ, Stepʻan (1944) “աշորայ”, in Hayerēn bacʻatrakan baṙaran [Armenian Explanatory Dictionary] (in Armenian), volume I, Yerevan: State Publishing House, page 198a
Malxaseancʻ, Stepʻan (1944) “աշարայ”, in Hayerēn bacʻatrakan baṙaran [Armenian Explanatory Dictionary] (in Armenian), volume I, Yerevan: State Publishing House, page 191c
Sargsyan, Armen Yu. (2013) “շարա”, in Ġarabaġi barbaṙi baṙaran [Dictionary of Karabakh Dialect] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Edit Print, →ISBN, page 567a
Sargsyan, Artem et al., editors (2001), “աշարա”, in Hayocʻ lezvi barbaṙayin baṙaran [Dialectal Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Armenian), volume I, Yerevan: Hayastan, page 72a