m ꜣt.f

Egyptian

Etymology

m +‎ ꜣt +‎ .f, literally “in his moment”.

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /ɛm ɑtʔɛf/
  • Conventional anglicization: em at.ef

Adverb

1. in the act (of doing something)
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Ptahhotep (pPrisse/pBN 186–194) lines 6.1–6.2 (74–77):

     jr gm.k ḏꜣjsw m ꜣt.f m ḥwrw nj js mjtw.k m ꜣd(w) jb.k r.f ḫft ẖzz.f jmj sw r tꜣ ḫsf.f n.f ḏs.f

     If you find a disputant in the act who is an inferior and not your equal, don’t let yourself rage at him in accordance with his being wretched; set him aside (literally, “to the earth”) and he himself will punish himself.

References

• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 1
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[1], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, page 2.1