فتى

Arabic

Etymology

From Proto-West Semitic *pataw- (“to seduce, to beguile”), the young not only so called because they are easily persuaded, as illustrated by Semitic-borrowed Old Armenian տղայ (tłay) and երախայ (eraxay), which refer to the child and the simpleton at the same time, but in particular referring to the sexual prurience of adult-state humans, as that verb primarily bore a literal as well as a saucy meaning “to penetrate, to jook”—hence Tigre ፈታ (fäta) and Ge'ez ፈተወ (fätäwä), Tigrinya ፈተወ (fätäwä) mean “to love”, as in being attracted by the sex.

For similar semantic direction and range, see also م ن ي (m-n-y) / م ن و (m-n-w) meaning in the base stem “to tempt; to afflict, to make suffer”, form II “to rouse desire or hope in”, form V “to desire”, well known, and finally specifically in Akkadian 𒈨𒉡𒌝 (menûm, “to love”), but also in Arabic مَنِيّ (maniyy, “what is discharged in ejaculation”). A parallel case of a particular age of man having been named in accordance with such reflections is غُلَام (ḡulām, “boy”) from غَلِمَ (ḡalima, “to be in rut”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /fa.tan/

Noun

فَتًى • (fatan) m (dual فَتَيَان (fatayān) or فَتَوَان (fatawān), plural فِتْيَان (fityān) or فِتْيَة (fitya) or فُتُوّ (futuww) or فُتِيّ (futiyy), feminine فَتَاة (fatāh))

1. male adolescent, youth, juvenile
2. male servant
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 18:62:

     فَلَمَّا جَاوَزَا قَالَ لِفَتَاهُ آتِنَا غَدَاءَنَا لَقَدْ لَقِينَا مِن سَفَرِنَا هٰذَا نَصَبًا

     fa-lammā jāwazā qāla li-fatāhu ʔātinā ḡadāʔanā laqad laqīnā min safarinā hāḏā naṣaban

     So when they had passed beyond it, he said to his boy, "Bring us our morning meal. We have certainly suffered in this, our journey, much fatigue."

Declension

Derived terms

• فُتَيّ (futayy) (diminutive)
• فُتُوَّة (futuwwa, “youth; chivalry, generosity”)
  • فَتَا (fatā, “to surpass in generosity”)
• فَتِيَ (fatiya, “to be youthful”)
• فَتِيّ (fatiyy, “young”)
• أَفْتَى (ʔaftā, “cadet”)
• فَتَّى (fattā, “to reckon adolescent”)
• تَفَتَّى (tafattā, “to assume likeness to youths”)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “فتو”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN