Classical Syriac

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Etymology

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Derived from ܥܝܢܐ (ʿaynā(ʾ), eye; spring). Compare Arabic مَعِين (maʕīn) and Hebrew מַעְיָן (maʿyān). The sense of "rhombus" is a calque of Arabic مُعَيَّن (muʕayyan).

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): [m(ə)ʕinɑ(ʔ)] (singular)
  • IPA(key): [m(ə)ʕine(ʔ)], [m(ə)ʕinɑθɑ(ʔ)] (plural)

Noun

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ܡܥܝܢܐ (transliteration neededf (plural ܡܥܝܢܬܐ or ܡܥܝܢܐ)

  1. fountain, spring, well
  2. source
  3. (geometry) rhombus

Usage notes

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While the word is normally considered feminine, it may rarely occur as masculine.

Inflection

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Derived terms

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References

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  • mˁyn”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
  • Costaz, Louis (2002) Dictionnaire syriaque-français ∙ Syriac–English Dictionary ∙ قاموس سرياني-عربي, 3rd edition, Beirut: Dar El-Machreq, p. 251b
  • Payne Smith, Jessie (1903) A Compendious Syriac Dictionary Founded Upon the Thesaurus Syriacus of R. Payne Smith, D.D., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. 288b
  • Sokoloff, Michael (2009) A Syriac Lexicon: A Translation from the Latin, Correction, Expansion, and Update of C. Brockelmann's Lexicon Syriacum, Winona Lake, Indiana, Piscataway, New Jersey: Eisenbrauns; Gorgias Press, p. 800b