Arabic edit

Etymology 1 edit

Root
ع و م (ʕ-w-m)

Since this word competes with سَنَة (sana), عَام (ʕām) is suggested to be loaned from Old South Arabian 𐩲𐩣 (ʿm /⁠*ʿām⁠/, year). Compare Ge'ez ዓም (ʿam, year).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

عَام (ʕāmm (plural أَعْوَام (ʔaʕwām))

  1. year
    Synonyms: سَنَة (sana), حَوْل (ḥawl)
    • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 29:14-15:
      وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُ وَأَصْحَابَ ٱلسَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا آيَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَ
      wa-laqad ʔarsalnā nūḥan ʔilā qawmihi fa-labiṯa fīhim ʔalfa sanatin ʔillā ḵamsīna ʕāman fa-ʔaḵaḏahumu ṭ-ṭūfānu wahum ẓālimūna fa-ʔanjaynāhu wa-ʔaṣḥāba s-safīnati wa-jaʕalnāhā ʔāyatan li-l-ʕālamīna
      And We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them nine hundred and fifty years, and the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers. But We saved him and the companions of the ship, and We made it a sign for the worlds.
  2. a period of twelve lunar months; lunar year
Declension edit
Descendants edit
  • Azerbaijani: am
  • Persian: عام ('âm)

Etymology 2 edit

Root
ع م م (ʕ-m-m)

Derived from the active participle of عَمَّ (ʕamma, to be general, to be common, to prevail). Contamination from Parthian 𐫍𐫀𐫖 (hʾm /⁠hām-⁠/, same) or its Middle Iranian analogues such as engendering Old Armenian համ- (ham-, same, homo-; whole, pan-) is considered.

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

عَامّ (ʕāmm) (feminine عَامَّة (ʕāmma), elative أَعَمّ (ʔaʕamm))

  1. public
  2. prevalent, universal
  3. general
    • 2019 April 9, “نسبة التصويت 62%..العرب يسجلون نسبة منخفضة [Voter turnout is 62%... Arabs register a lower turnout.]”, in Maan News[1]:
      بلغت نسبة التصويت العامة في إسرائيل حتى الساعة الثامنة 62% وهي اقل 2.6% عن عام 2015.
      Voter turnout for the general population of Israel as of 8:00 reached 62%, which is 2.6% less than in the year 2015.
  4. common, ordinary
Declension edit
Descendants edit

Etymology 3 edit

Root
ع و م (ʕ-w-m)

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

عَامَ (ʕāma) I, non-past يَعُومُ‎ (yaʕūmu)

  1. to float
    Synonym: طَفَا (ṭafā)
  2. to swim
    Synonym: سَبَحَ (sabaḥa)
Conjugation edit

References edit

  • Lane, Edward William (1863) “عوم”, in Arabic-English Lexicon[2], London: Williams & Norgate, page 2202b
  • Shapira, Dan D. Y. (2009) “Irano-Arabica: contamination and popular etymology. Notes on the Persian and Arabic lexicons (with references to Aramaic, Hebrew and Turkic)”, in Христианский Восток – Новая Серия, volume 5 (XI), Moscow: Издательство Российской Академии Наук и Государственного Эрмитажа, page 174, claims contamination from a Parthian **hām (winter; year), a word he seemingly made up, since no descendant of Proto-Iranian *jimáh (winter) could come close.
  • Wehr, Hans (1979) “عم, عوم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, pages 751, 771
  • Weninger, Stefan (2009) “Der Jemen als lexikalisches Ausstrahlungszentrum in der Antike”, in Philologisches und Historisches zwischen Anatolien und Sokotra. Analecta Semitica in memoriam Alexander Sima[3] (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasowitz, →ISBN, page 399 Nr. 1

Moroccan Arabic edit

Etymology 1 edit

Root
ع و م
2 terms

From Arabic عَام (ʕām).

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

عام (ʕāmm (dual عامين (ʕāmayn), plural أعوام (ʔaʕwām))

  1. year
    Synonym: سنة (sana)

Etymology 2 edit

Root
ع و م
2 terms

From Arabic عَامَ (ʕāma).

Pronunciation edit

Verb edit

عام (ʕām) I (non-past يعوم (yʕūm))

  1. (intransitive) to swim
Conjugation edit
    Conjugation of عام
singular plural
1st person 2nd person 3rd person 1st person 2nd person 3rd person
past m عمت (ʕumt) عمتي (ʕumti) عام (ʕām) عمنا (ʕumna) عمتوا (ʕumtu) عاموا (ʕāmu)
f عامت (ʕāmet)
non-past m نعوم (nʕūm) تعوم (tʕūm) يعوم (yʕūm) نعوموا (nʕūmu) تعوموا (tʕūmu) يعوموا (yʕūmu)
f تعومي (tʕūmi) تعوم (tʕūm)
imperative m عوم (ʕūm) عوموا (ʕūmu)
f عومي (ʕūmi)

Etymology 3 edit

Root
ع م م
1 term

From Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

عام (ʕāmm) (feminine عامة (ʕāmma), masculine plural عامين (ʕāmmīn), feminine plural عامات (ʕāmmāt), elative أعم (ʔaʕamm))

  1. public
  2. prevalent, universal
  3. general
  4. common, ordinary

Persian edit

Etymology 1 edit

Borrowed from Arabic عَام (ʕām).

Pronunciation edit

 

Readings
Classical reading? ām
Dari reading? ām
Iranian reading? âm
Tajik reading? om

Noun edit

عام ('âm) (plural اعوام (a'vâm))

  1. year
    Synonyms: سال (sâl), سنه (sane)

Etymology 2 edit

Borrowed from Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

Pronunciation edit

 

Readings
Classical reading? āmm
Dari reading? āmm
Iranian reading? âmm
Tajik reading? omm

Adjective edit

عامّ ('âmm)

  1. common
  2. general

Further reading edit

  • Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “عام”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

Urdu edit

Etymology edit

Borrowed from Classical Persian عامّ ('āmm), Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

Pronunciation edit

Adjective edit

عام ('ām) (Hindi spelling आम)

  1. common
  2. ordinary
  3. general
  4. universal

Derived terms edit

Further reading edit

  • عام”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
  • عام”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
  • Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “عام”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.