The plurality of meanings results partly from the assimilation of the proto-Semitic غ ghayin with ع ʿayin in some languages. In Hebrew the word ערב ʿarav thus has the same triconsonantal root as the root meaning "west" (מערב maʿarav) "setting sun" or "evening" (מעריב maʿariv, ערב ʿerev). The direct Arabic cognate of this is غرب ġarb ("west", etc.) rather than عرب ʿarab ; however, in Ugaritic and Sayhadic,[2] languages which normally preserve proto-Semitic ghayin, this root is found with ʿayin adding to the confusion.[3] The first recorded use of the word is in Hebrew, Genesis 1:5, and its meaning there is "evening."