שמואל

Hebrew

Etymology

Compound of שֵׁם (šēm, “name”) and אֵל (ʾēl, “god”). The first part is often said to be שָׁמַע (šāmáʿ, “to hear, to listen”) since elistic names tend to derive from exhortations from verbs, however this is unlikely since the third radical ע (ʿ) of the verb is absent. Other interpretations posit derivation from roots meaning “God” as in Heaven or the upper sky (see שָׁמַיִם (šāmáyim)) and “high” (see עלי (literally “elevation”)) giving “God is high”.

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈʃmu.el/
• (Ashkenazi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʃmu.ejl/
• (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʃemuˈel/
• (Yemenite Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʃæ̆muˈʔel/
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʃămuˈʔel/
• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ʃəmuːˈʔeːl/

• Audio:

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Proper noun

שְׁמוּאֵל • (šəmūʾḗl) m

1. Samuel (biblical figure)
2. a male given name, equivalent to English Samuel
3. Samuel I and II (taken as one book)

Descendants

• → Ancient Greek: Σαμουήλ (Samouḗl)
  • → Latin: Samūēl
  • → Old Armenian: Սամուէլ (Samuēl)
• → Arabic: سَمَوْأَل (samawʔal)

Yiddish

Proper noun

שמואל • (shmuel) m

1. (biblical) Samuel
2. a male given name from Hebrew, equivalent to English Samuel

Derived terms

• שמוליק (shmulik)
• שמעלקע (shmelke)