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ע־ל־ם. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
ע־ל־ם, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say
ע־ל־ם in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word
ע־ל־ם you have here. The definition of the word
ע־ל־ם will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition of
ע־ל־ם, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Hebrew
Etymology 1
Cognate with Aramaic עַלֵּם (ʿallem) "to conceal, make disappear" and Ugaritic 𐎓𐎍𐎎 (ʿlm) "to be hidden, unknown; to go unnoticed".
Potentially related to Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/ellamu, illamu/, “front, before; both temporally and in location; coming before your time or being currently physically before you now”) via the notion of "front" ↔ "to be in front, to be preceding; to go ahead of" ↔ "to leave behind" ↔ "to be gone; to vanish, disappear" ↔ "to conceal, hide".
Root
ע־ל־ם • (ʿ-l-m)
- Related to disappearance, hiding.
Etymology 2
Cognate with Ugaritic 𐎓𐎍𐎎 (ʿlm) "eternity", Phoenician 𐤏𐤋𐤌 (ʿlm) "eternity", Aramaic עָלַם (ʿālam) "eternity; world, universe; nation, people", Arabic عَالَم (ʕālam) "world", and Ge'ez ዓለም (ʿaläm) "world" (the latter two likely borrowed from Aramaic).
Potentially also related to Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/ellamu, illamu/, “front, before”) via the notion of "what lies in front". If so, related to Etymology 1.
Root
ע־ל־ם • (ʿ-l-m)
- Related to the world, eternity.
Etymology 3
Cognate with Arabic غُلَام (ḡulām) "boy", Aramaic עוּלֵימ (ʿŭlēm) "(male) youth", & Ugaritic 𐎙𐎍𐎎 (ġlm) "boy, lad".
Root
ע־ל־ם • (ʿ-l-m)
- Related to youth.
Derived terms
References
- A. Murtonen (1989) “ʿLM; ʿLM II”, in Hebrew in Its West Semitic Setting, Part I, Section Bb, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 320
- Klein, Ernest (1987) A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English, Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, pages 466, 473
Further reading
- “ע־ל־ם” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
- “ע־ל־ם”, in Hebrew dictionary and conjugation tables, Pealim.com