ʿ l m
35 lemmas · 11 languages
soundAll three consonants are regular📜 Gen.9.12
Themes:world· عَالَم · עוֹלָם·8eternity· أَبَد · עוֹלָם·7forever· إِلَى الأَبَد · לְעוֹלָם·5young·4man· رَجُل · אִישׁ·4
POS shape:noun·21verb·6adj·4adv·3root·1
This root is attested across 11 Semitic languages in our index. Each section below shows representative lemmas; attested means a Wiktionary editor explicitly tagged the root, inferredmeans we derived it mechanically from the word's consonantal skeleton.
Etymology treehow this root diverged from Proto-Semitic through the family
*ʿ-l-mProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic𐎓𐎍𐎎𐎓 𐎍 𐎎— eternity
Canaanite
Hebrewעֶלֶםע ל ם— a young, unmarried man of marriageable age
Phoenician𐤏𐤋𐤌𐤏 𐤋 𐤌— eternity
Punic𐤏𐤋𐤌𐤏 𐤋 𐤌— eternity
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicעָלַםע ל מ— absolute form of עָלְמָא (ʿāləmā)
Syriacܥܠܝܡܐܥ ܠ ܡ— young, youthful, juvenile
Assyrian NAܠܥܵܠܲܡܥ ܠ ܡ— forever, eternally, always
Arabic
Arabicعَلِمَع ل م— to know, to have knowledge, to be cognizant, to be aware
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Ge'ezዓለምዐ ለ መ— universe, world
Amharicዓለምዐ ለ መ— universe, world
Tigrinyaዓለምዐ ለ መ— universe, world
Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.
Ugaritic
irregular reflexug · 1 lemma- eternity
Phoenician
irregular reflexphn · 1 lemma- eternity
Punic
irregular reflexpun · 1 lemma- eternity
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 2 lemmas- absolute form of עָלְמָא (ʿāləmā)
- eternity, foreverCognate with Hebrew עוֹלָם (ʿōlām), Arabic عَالَم (ʕālam).
Classical Syriac
syc · 4 lemmas- young, youthful, juvenileFrom the root ܥ ܠ ܡ. Compare Arabic غُلَيِّم (ḡulayyim) and Hebrew עֶלֶם (ʿélem).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܥܠܝܡܘܬܐʿəlaymūṯā
- boy, lad, adolescent, young manFrom the root ܥ ܠ ܡ. Compare Arabic غُلَيِّم (ḡulayyim) and Hebrew עֶלֶם (ʿélem).
- youth, adolescenceFrom ܥܠܝܡܐ (ʿəlaymā, “youth, adolescent”), from the root ܥ ܠ ܡ + the abstract noun ending -ܘܬܐ (-ūṯā).
- eternity, foreverCompare Arabic عَالَم (ʕālam) and Hebrew עוֹלָם (ʿôlām).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 7 lemmas- forever, eternally, always
- boy, lad, adolescent, young man, teenagerLearned borrowing from Classical Syriac, from Aramaic עֳלַיְמָא (ʿŭlaymā); cognate to Arabic غُلَيِّم (ḡulayyim) and Hebrew עֶלֶם (élem).
▸ 2 derivations
- derivedܥܠܲܝܡܵܝܵܐˁlaymāyā
- derivedܥܠܲܝܡܘܼܬ݂ܵܐˁlaymūṯā
- since forever, always
- never
- eternity, foreverLearned borrowing from Classical Syriac equivalent to the absolute form of ܥܵܠܡܵܐ (ˁālmā); compare Hebrew עוֹלָם ('olám).
- worldInherited from Aramaic עָלְמָא (ʿāləmā), itself possibly from Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/ellamu, illamu/, “front, before; both temporally and in location; coming before your time or being currently physically before you now”); compare Hebrew עוֹלָם ('olám), Arabic عَالَم (ʕālam) and Amharic ዓለም (ʿaläm).
▸ 3 derivations
- derivedܥܵܠܲܡˁālam
- derivedܥܵܠܡܵܝܵܐˁālmāyā
- derivedܥܵܠܡܵܢܵܝܵܐˁālmānāyā
- forming words pertaining to the world, eternityFrom Proto-Semitic; compare Hebrew ע־ל־ם (ʿ-l-m), Arabic ع ل م (ʕ l m) and غ ل م (ḡ l m)
Hebrew
he · 8 lemmas- a young, unmarried man of marriageable age
- to disappear
- hidden, concealed; mysterious
- world: (the) Earth, (the) globe.Cognate with Aramaic עָלְמָא (ʿāləmā), Arabic عَالَم (ʕālam), Amharic ዓለም (ʿaläm).
▸ 8 derivations
- derivedאַהֲבַת עוֹלָםahavát 'olám
- derivedאֲסִיר עוֹלָםasír 'olám
- derivedבּוֹרֵא עוֹלָם
- derivedבֵּית עוֹלָםbeit-olám
- derivedהָלַךְ לְעוֹלָמוֹhalách l'olamó
- derivedהָעוֹלָם הַבָּאha'olám habá
- derivedהָעוֹלָם הַזֶּהha'olám hazé
- derivedלְעוֹלָםl'olám
- to make (something) disappear, vanish; to hide, conceal (something)
- to hide oneself
- world (adjective); globalFrom עוֹלָם m (olám) + ־י (-i).
- Disappearance, vanishing: the act of disappearing.Action noun of the verb נֶעֱלַם (ne'elám).
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- to know, to have knowledge, to be cognizant, to be aware
- verbal noun of عَلِمَ (ʕalima) (form I)
- to inform, to notify (construed with a direct object of the person notified and either a second direct object of the thing notified about or through بِ (bi))
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedاللَّٰهُ أَعْلَمُallāhu ʔaʕlamu
- elative degree of عَالِم (ʕālim); elative degree of عَلِيم (ʕalīm):Elative of عَلِيم (ʕalīm, “knowing”).
- to learn (something)
- verbal noun of تَعَلَّمَ (taʕallama) (form V)
- worldBorrowed from Aramaic עָלְמָא / ܥܳܠܡܳܐ (ʿāləmā) or Hebrew עוֹלָם (ʿōlām), possibly from Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/ellamu, illamu/, “front, before; both temporally and in location; coming before your time or being currently physically before you now”).
- scholar, man of letters, scientistDerived from the active participle of the verb عَلِمَ (ʕalima, “to know”), from the root ع ل م (ʕ l m).
Ge'ez
gez · 1 lemma- universe, worldBorrowed from Aramaic עָלְמָא / ܥܳܠܡܳܐ (ʿāləmā).
Amharic
am · 1 lemma- universe, worldLikely a borrowing from Ge'ez ዓለም (ʿaläm, “world”). Its plural was also borrowed, as ዓለማት (ʿalämat, “universe”).
Tigrinya
ti · 1 lemma- universe, worldLearned borrowing from Ge'ez ዓለም (ʿaläm, “world”).