See also: ملاك

Arabic

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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Borrowed from Ge'ez መልአክ (mälʾäk, messenger; angel), the plural of which is መላእክት (mälaʾəkt), itself a calque of Aramaic מַלְאֲכָא / ܡܠܐܟܐ (malʾăḵā, angel, messenger) and Hebrew מַלְאָךְ (malʾā́ḵ, angel, messenger), closer in Tigrinya መልኣኽ (mälʾax), Amharic መልኣክ (mälʾak), መላክ (mälak) of which the plural is መላእክት (mälaʾəkt). Compare the root ل ء ك (l-ʔ-k) and لَأَكَ (laʔaka), أَلْأَكَ (ʔalʔaka, to send as a messenger), which was regularly used as the normal word for “to send” in Ge'ez ለአከ (läʾäkä) as well as in Ugaritic 𐎍𐎛𐎋 (lỉk), 𐎍𐎀𐎋 (lảk) for which the normal Arabic word is أَرْسَلَ (ʔarsala) upon which one has formed رَسُول (rasūl, messenger; apostle; angel), with the same pattern native Ge'ez ልኡክ (ləʾuk, messenger; apostle; cantor).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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مَلْأَك (malʔakm (plural مَلَائِك (malāʔik) or مَلَائِكَة (malāʔika))

  1. angel

Declension

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Descendants

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References

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  1. ^ Benzing, Johannes (1983) “mlk”, in Chwaresmischer Wortindex, Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, page 410
  • Geiger, Abraham (1833, 1902) Was hat Mohammed aus dem Judenthume aufgenommen? (in German), 2nd edition, Leipzig: M. W. Kaufmann, page 59
  • Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 269–270
  • Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft[1] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 34