Completely OT: Where can I find Hebrew etymology?

[Aviram Jenik]

> 
> Thanks, Orna. Actually, I did hear that "brush" was the origin for
> mivreshet, which is why I went looking for an authoritive source. How
> about "pitria"?

If "pitria" is what you're looking for (you originally wrote 'petria' -
doesn't really mean anything in Hebrew) then a simple google search:
מקור השם פטריה

Gives this as the 5th entry:
http://he.wiktionary.org/wiki/%D7%A4%D7%98%D7%A8%D7%99%D7%94

It's a biblical name.


- Aviram