ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ

Coptic

Alternative forms

A woman from Saqqara, Egypt.

• ϩⲓⲙⲉ (hime) — Sahidic, Lycopolitan, Akhmimic, Old Coptic
• ⲥϩⲓⲙⲉ (shime) — Sahidic, Lycopolitan, Akhmimic

Etymology

From Demotic s-ḥmt (“woman”), from Egyptian zt-ḥmt (“woman”), from (zt, “woman”) + (ḥmt, “wife, woman”), a compound that arose because the feminine ending -t in zt eventually became silent, making zt homophonous with z (“man”), so that it became necessary to add ḥmt to clarify.

Noun

ⲥϩⲓⲙⲓ • (shimi) f (plural ϩⲓⲟⲙⲓ (hiomi) or ϩⲓⲁⲙⲓ (hiami))

1. (Bohairic, Fayyumic) woman
2. (Bohairic, Fayyumic) wife
3. (Bohairic, Fayyumic) female (animal)

References

• Crum, Walter E. (1939) A Coptic Dictionary‎^[1], Oxford: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, page 385
• Černý, Jaroslav (1976) Coptic Etymological Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN