Appendix:Proto-Semitic/ʿabd-

Proto-Semitic

Etymology

Central Semitic only. Related to the root verb *ʿbd (“to work, serve”), which is argued to have actually been a denominative.

Noun

*ʿabd-

1. slave
2. man

Descendants

• Arabic: عَبْد (ʕabd)
• Aramaic:

  Syriac: ܥܒܕܐ (‘abdā’)

  Hebrew: עבדא (‘abdā’)

• Epigraphic South Arabian: 𐩲𐩨𐩵 (ʿbd)
• Hebrew: עבד (éved)