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m w t

33 lemmas · 7 languages
hollow (II-weak)Middle consonant is w or y. The vowel contracts in the perfect (q-w-l → qāla 'said'), producing a 'hollow' surface. Known as mediae infirmae.T Gen.2.17
Themes:dead·8death·7die·5imperative·2cause·2
POS shape:noun·15verb·9adj·8prep·1

This root is attested across 7 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-w-tProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewמֵתמ ו ת— Dead, having died.
Aramaic
Imperial Aramaicמוּתמ ו ת— masculine singular imperative of מִית (mīṯ)
Syriacܡܝܬܡ ܘ ܬ— to die
Assyrian NAܡܵܐܹܬ݂ܡ ܘ ܬ— to die (to stop living)
Arabic
Arabicمَيِّتم و ت— dead
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Amharicሙትמ ו ת— dead
Tigrinyaምምዋትመ ወ ተ— infinitive of ሞተ (motä)

Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.

Imperial Aramaic

arc · 3 lemmas
  • mūṯverbinferred𐡀 tg. Onk. Gen 3:4Wiktionary ↗
    masculine singular imperative of מִית (mīṯ)
  • nouninferred𐡀 tg. Onk. Exod 9:3Wiktionary ↗
    death
    From Proto-Semitic *mut-. Cognate with Classical Syriac ܡܘܬܐ, Akkadian 𒍗 (mūtu, ÚŠ, “death”), Ugaritic 𐎎𐎚 (mt, “death”), Arabic موت (mawt). Compare Egyptian mtt:m*A14
  • nouninferred𐡀 tg. Jon. 1 Kgs 10:19Wiktionary ↗
    site, settlement, location

Classical Syriac

syc · 4 lemmas
  • mīṯverbattestedWiktionary ↗
    to die
    From Proto-Semitic *mawut-. Compare Arabic مَاتَ (māta) and Hebrew מֵת (mēṯ).
  • nounattestedWiktionary ↗
    death
    From the root ܡ ܘ ܬ related to dying, from Proto-Semitic *mawut-. Cognate with Akkadian 𒍗 (mūtu, [ÚŠ]), Arabic مَوْت (mawt), Hebrew מָוֶת (māweṯ), and Ugaritic 𐎎𐎚 (mt).
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    absolute singular of ܡܬܐ
  • verbinferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative form of ܡܝܬ

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

aii · 8 lemmas
  • māˀēṯverbattestedWiktionary ↗
    to die (to stop living)
    Inherited from Aramaic מִית (mīṯ), from Proto-Semitic *mawut-; compare Arabic مَاتَ (māta), Hebrew מֵת (met) and Akkadian 𒁁 (mâtum).
  • mīṯnounattestedWiktionary ↗
    construct state singular of ܡܝܼܬ݂ܵܐ (mīṯā, “dead”)
  • mīṯadjattestedWiktionary ↗
    used to refer to someone dead in formal contexts, biographies, gravestones etc.
    Learned borrowing from Classical Syriac, originally as a verb.
  • mawtānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    death (the cessation of life and all associated processes)
    Of the noun pattern 1a23ā, inherited from Aramaic מַוְתָא (mawtā), from Proto-Semitic *mawut-; cognate with Arabic مَوْت (mawt), Hebrew מָוֶת (mávet), Akkadian 𒍗 (mūtu, [ÚŠ]), and Ugaritic 𐎎𐎚 (mt).
    ▸ 2 derivations
  • mīṯānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    dead man, decedent
    Passive participle of ܡܵܐܹܬ݂ (māˀēṯ, “to die”).
  • mīṯāadjattestedWiktionary ↗
    dead
    Passive participle of ܡܵܐܹܬ݂ (māˀēṯ, “to die”).
  • myāṯānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    dying
    Verbal noun of ܡܵܐܹܬ݂ (māˀēṯ).
  • mamyiṯverbattestedWiktionary ↗
    to put to death, execute, to cause to die
    Causitive stem of the verb ܡܵܐܹܬ݂ (māˀēṯ, “to die”)

Hebrew

he · 8 lemmas
  • métadjattestedT Gen.20.3Wiktionary ↗
    Dead, having died.
    Inherited from Proto-Semitic *mawut-. Cognate with Arabic مَاتَ (māta), Ge'ez ሞተ (motä), Egyptian mwt, Akkadian 𒈪𒌈 (mītum).
    ▸ 2 derivations
  • metverbattestedT Gen.20.3Wiktionary ↗
    To die.
    Inherited from Proto-Semitic *mawut-. Cognate with Arabic مَاتَ (māta), Ge'ez ሞተ (motä), Egyptian mwt, Akkadian 𒈪𒌈 (mītum).
  • mávetnounattestedT Gen.2.17Wiktionary ↗
    defective spelling of מוות
    ▸ 1 derivation
  • hamatánounattestedT Zech.11.9Wiktionary ↗
    killing
  • t'mutánounattestedT Ps.79.11Wiktionary ↗
    mortality, death rate
  • mútverbinferredT Gen.2.17Wiktionary ↗
    Masculine singular imperative of מֵת (mét).
  • kamútnouninferredT Num.16.29Wiktionary ↗
    amount, quantity
    From כַּמָּה (káma, “how much, how many”) + ־וּת (-út, “-ness, -ity”).
  • kmótprepinferredT Num.16.29Wiktionary ↗
    like

Arabic

ar · 8 lemmas
  • mayyitadjattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    dead
    CaCīC-type adjective of the root م و ت (m w t), reconstructible to an original form *مَوِيت (*mawīt, “dead”) that would have then assimilated to *مَيِيت (*mayīt, “good”) and finally regularly shifted to مَيِّت (mayyit, “dead”). See etymology at جَيِّد (jayyid, “good”) for more information.
  • maytadjattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    dead
    CaCīC-type adjective of the root م و ت (m w t), reconstructible to an original form *مَوِيت (*mawīt, “dead”) that would have then assimilated to *مَيِيت (*mayīt, “good”) and finally regularly shifted to مَيِّت (mayyit, “dead”). See etymology at جَيِّد (jayyid, “good”) for more information.
  • māʔitadjattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    active participle of مَاتَ (māta)
  • mumātadjattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    passive participle of أَمَاتَ (ʔamāta)
  • mumītverbattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    active participle of أَمَاتَ (ʔamāta, “to cause to die”)
  • mawtanounattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    instance noun of مَاتَ (māta); a death
  • mītanounattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    manner of death
  • maytanounattested☪︎ Q.2:19Wiktionary ↗
    corpse, carcass

Amharic

am · 1 lemma

Tigrinya

ti · 1 lemma
  • məmwatverbinferredWiktionary ↗
    infinitive of ሞተ (motä)

Related rootsshare 2 of 3 consonants with m-w-t

Compare two languages side-by-side

arc ↔ sycarc ↔ aiiarc ↔ hearc ↔ ararc ↔ am