ꜥbw

Egyptian

Etymology 1

wꜥb (“to purify, to be pure”) +‎ -w.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑːbuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: abu

Noun

 m

1. cleanness, purity
2. purification, cleaning
3. cleaning agent

Inflection

Declension of ꜥbw (masculine)

singular	ꜥbw
dual	ꜥbwwj
plural	ꜥbww

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜥbw  

ꜥbw

[Old Kingdom]

Etymology 2

ꜥb (“to pollute, to make impure”) +‎ -w.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑːbuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: abu

Noun

 m

1. something wicked or bad
2. dirt, filth, pollution

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜥbw  

ꜥbw

[New Kingdom]

in hieratic

Descendants

• >? Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲁⲓⲃⲉ (aibe)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

 

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): /ˈʕaːbVw/ → /ˈʕaːbVw/ → /ˈʕaːbə/ → /ˈʕoːβ/

• (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈʕaːbVw/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈʕaːbVw/

  where V represents an unknown short vowel.

• (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈʕaːbə/
• (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA^(key): /ˈʕoːβ/

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɑːbuː/
  • Conventional anglicization: abu

Noun

 m

1. lettuce

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of ꜥbw  

ꜥbw

Descendants

• Bohairic Coptic: ⲱⲃ (ōb)
• Sahidic Coptic: ⲟⲩϥ (ouf)

References

• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 174.15–174.18, 175.13–175.20
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 40