ꜣbwt

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑbuːt/
  • Conventional anglicization: abut

Etymology 1

Sometimes hypothesized to be from a form such as Proto-Afroasiatic *ʔab-, in which case it would perhaps be cognate with Proto-Semitic *ʔabw- (“father”).

Noun

 f

1. (collective) extended family, relatives, people of a household [Sixth Dynasty to Middle Kingdom and Book of the Dead; rare thereafter]

Usage notes

This word was originally restricted to administrative and juridical contexts but came to be in general use by the Middle Kingdom. By the New Kingdom it was archaic and appeared primarily in religious texts (the Book of the Dead).

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣbwt  

ꜣbwt	ꜣbwt	ꜣbt	ꜣbw
			[Greco-Roman Period]

Etymology 2

Uncertain. Perhaps related to ꜣbt (“brand, branding iron”), ꜣbw (“brand, branding iron”). Less likely, some authors have connected it with ꜣbj (“to desire”), thus ‘desirable image’, or to jꜣbt (“left side”) because enemies were associated with the left.

Noun

 f

1. appearance, outward form [since the New Kingdom]
2. (often followed by ‘the enemy’ in a genitive construction) the symbol or effigy of an enemy to be ritually destroyed, often in the form of a sacrifical animal [Late Period to Greco-Roman Period]

Inflection

Declension of ꜣbwt (feminine)

singular	ꜣbwt
dual	ꜣbwtj
plural	ꜣbwwt

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜣbwt  

ꜣbwt	ꜣbwj	ꜣbwj	ꜣbwj	ꜣbwj	ꜣbw	ꜣbw	ꜣb	ꜣb	ꜣbt
[20th Dynasty]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]	[Greco-Roman Period]

Derived terms

• ꜣbw-nṯr

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) “ꜣbt”, in Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 7.8
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) “ꜣbw·t”, in Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 8.1–8.2
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 2
• Wilson, Penelope (1991) A Lexicographical Study of the Ptolemaic Texts in the Temple of Edfu, Liverpool: University of Liverpool, pages 9–11