m l k
46 lemmas · 14 languages
soundAll three consonants are regular📜 Gen.14.1
Themes:king· مَلِك · מֶלֶךְ·13kingdom· مَمْلَكَة · מַמְלָכָה·6queen· مَلِكَة · מַלְכָּה·5ruler· حَاكِم · מוֹשֵׁל·3royal· مَلَكِيّ · מַלְכוּתִי·3
POS shape:noun·25name·7verb·6adj·5other·2proper noun·1
This root is attested across 14 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
*m-l-kProto-Semitic
East Semitic
Akkadianmalkumm l k— king, prince, (foreign) ruler
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Ugaritic𐎎𐎍𐎋𐎎 𐎍 𐎋— king
Canaanite
Hebrewמִלְכָּהמ ל ך— Milcah
Phoenician𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤌 𐤋 𐤊— king
Punic𐤌𐤋𐤊𐤀𐤌 𐤋 𐤊— Málaga
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicמלךמ ל כ— inflection of מַלְכָּא:
Syriacܡܠܟܐܡ ܠ ܟ— any ruler; king, emperor, prince, emir, caliph, toparch
Assyrian NAܡܲܠܟܵܐܡ ܠ ܟ— king
Turoyoܡܠܟܐܡ ܠ ܟ— king
Western NAܡܠܟܐܡ ܠ ܟ— king
Arabic
Arabicمَلَكَم ل ك— to take in possession, to take over, to acquire, to seize
South Semitic
Old South Arabian
Sabaean𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩣 𐩡 𐩫— to become or be king, to rule, to govern
OSA𐩣𐩡𐩫𐩩𐩪𐩨𐩱𐩣 𐩡 𐩫— queen of Saba
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicሙሉክዬמ ל כ— mulukhiyah (Corchorus olitorius and the vegetable thereof)
Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.
Akkadian
akk · 1 lemma- king, prince, (foreign) rulerFrom Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king, prince”). Cognate with Arabic مَلِك (malik) and Biblical Hebrew מֶלֶךְ (mɛ́lɛḵ).
Ugaritic
irregular reflexug · 3 lemmas- kingFrom Proto-Semitic *malk- (“king, prince”). Cognate with Arabic مَلِك (malik) and Biblical Hebrew מֶלֶךְ (méleḵ).
- to rule, reignInherited from Proto-Semitic [Term?]. Cognate to Arabic مَلَكَ (malaka), Biblical Hebrew מָלַךְ.
- queenInherited from Proto-Semitic [Term?]. Cognate to Arabic مَلْكَة (malka), Biblical Hebrew מַלְכָּה (malká).
Phoenician
irregular reflexphn · 1 lemma- king
Punic
irregular reflexpun · 1 lemma- Málaga
Sabaean
irregular reflexsab · 1 lemma- to become or be king, to rule, to govern
Old South Arabian
irregular reflexosa · 1 lemma- queen of Saba
Imperial Aramaic
arc · 5 lemmas- inflection of מַלְכָּא:
- kingFrom Proto-Semitic *malk-.
- kingFrom Proto-Semitic *malk-.
- queen (female monarch)From Proto-Semitic *malk-. Notice that in the plural the /k/ becomes a fricative even though no vowel precedes it.
- kingshipCompare Hebrew מַלְכוּת (malkhút, malḵūṯ).
Classical Syriac
syc · 5 lemmas- any ruler; king, emperor, prince, emir, caliph, toparchFrom Aramaic מַלְכָּא (malkā), from Proto-Semitic *malk-.
- royalܡܠܟܐ + -ܝܐ
- any ruler; queen, empress, princess, toparchFrom Proto-Semitic *malk-. Compare Arabic مَلِكَة (malika) and Hebrew מַלְכָּה (malkâ).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܡܠܟܬܘܢܝܬܐ
- kingdomFrom ܡܠܟܐ (malkā, “king”) + -ܘܬܐ (-ūṯā, abstract noun ending); compare Arabic مَلَكُوت (malakūt), Hebrew מַלְכוּת (maləḵûṯ).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܒܪ ܡܠܟܘܬܐ
- guardian angelFrom ܡܠܐܟܐ (malʾăḵā, “angel”) + -ܕ (da-, “of”) + ܒܛܝܠܘܬܐ (bəṭīlūṯā, “care, diligence”).
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic
aii · 8 lemmas- kingInherited from Aramaic מַלְכָּא (malkā), from Proto-Semitic *malk-; compare Arabic مَلِك (malik), Hebrew מֶלֶךְ (mélekh) and Akkadian 𒈠𒀠𒆪𒌝 (malkum).
▸ 7 derivations
- derivedܒܲܪ ܡܲܠܟܵܐbar malkā
- derivedܡܠܸܟ݂ ܡܲܠܟܹ̈ܐmliḵ malkē
- derivedܡܲܠܟܘܼܬ݂ܵܐmalkūṯā
- derivedܡܲܠܟܘܿܢܵܐmalkōnā
- derivedܡܲܠܟܝܼܙܕܸܩmalkīzdiq
- derivedܡܲܠܟܵܐܝܼܬmalkāˀīt
- derivedܡܲܠܟܵܝܵܐmalkāyā
- a male given nameInherited from Aramaic מַלְכָּא (malkā), from Proto-Semitic *malk-; compare Arabic مَلِك (malik), Hebrew מֶלֶךְ (mélekh) and Akkadian 𒈠𒀠𒆪𒌝 (malkum).
- queen (usually the king’s mother)Inherited from Aramaic מַלְכְּתָא (malkəṯā); compare Arabic مَلِكَة (malika) and Hebrew מַלְכָּה (malká).
▸ 1 derivation
- derivedܡܲܠܟܲܬ݂ ܫܘܼܦܪܵܐmalkaṯ šuprā
- kingdom, realmFrom ܡܲܠܟܵܐ (malkā, “king”) + -ܘܬܐ (-ūṯā, the abstract noun ending); compare Arabic مَلَكُوت (malakūt), Hebrew מַלְכוּת (maləḵûṯ). The meaning in taxonomy is a Semantic loan from English kingdom.
▸ 3 derivations
- derivedܡܲܠܟܘܼܬ݂ܵܢܵܝܵܐmalkūṯānāyā
- derivedܡܲܠܟܘܼܬ݂ܵܐ ܡܚܲܝܲܕܬܵܐmalkūṯā mḥayyadtā
- derivedܡܲܠܟܘܼܬ݂ܵܐ ܥܲܪܒ݂ܵܝܬܵܐ ܣܥܘܼܕ݂ܵܝܬܵܐmalkūṯā ˁarḇāytā sˁūḏāytā
- a surnameDiminutive and nickname of the given name ܡܲܠܟܵܐ (malkā, “king”) and/or ܡܲܠܟܹ̈ܐ (malkē, “kings”).
- a male given nameBorrowed from Classical Syriac, from Biblical Hebrew [Term?].
- United Kingdom (a kingdom and country in Northern Europe)Calque of English United Kingdom.
- Saudi Arabia (a country in the Middle East, Asia)Calque of Arabic الْمَمْلَكَة الْعَرَبِيَّة السُّعُودِيَّة (al-mamlakat al-ʕarabiyyat as-suʕūdiyya, literally “The Saudi Arab Kingdom”).
Hebrew
he · 8 lemmas- Milcah
- to consultFrom the root מ־ל־ך
- to make king, coronate, crownFrom the root מ־ל־ך
- Something ruled, that is, a realm: a kingdom, king's, X royal.Feminine passive participle of מָלַךְ (malákh, “to rule”)
- kingship, queenshipCompare Aramaic מַלְכוּתָא (malḵūṯā).
▸ 3 derivations
- derivedכיסא מלכות
- derivedמַלְכוּתִיmalkhutí
- relatedמַמְלָכָהmamlakhá
- kingdomFrom the root מ־ל־ך . Compare Arabic مَمْلَكَة (mamlaka).
- Royal: of or pertaining to royalty.From מַלְכוּת (malkhút, “kingship, queenship; monarchy”) + ־י (“forming adjective from nouns, etc.”).
- national, state
Arabic
ar · 8 lemmas- to take in possession, to take over, to acquire, to seize
- to make the owner
- elative degree of مَالِك (mālik)Elative of مَالِك (mālik, “possessing, holding”).
- owning, possessing, holdingDerived from the active participle of مَلَكَ (malaka, “to own”).
- ownerDerived from the active participle of مَلَكَ (malaka, “to own”).
- a male given name, MalikDerived from the active participle of مَلَكَ (malaka, “to own”).
- plural of مَلِك (malik)
- to possess, own, have
Amharic
am · 2 lemmas- mulukhiyah (Corchorus olitorius and the vegetable thereof)Borrowed from Arabic مُلُوخِيَّة (mulūḵiyya).
- godFrom the root መ ለ ከ (mä lä kä).
Turoyo
tru · 1 lemma- king
Western Neo-Aramaic
amw · 1 lemma- king