Cognate with Sabaean 𐩲𐩡𐩣 (ʿlm) "to know; to acknowledge", "mark, sign, signature", Qatabanian 𐩲𐩡𐩣 (ʿlm) "to sign", Ugaritic 𐎓𐎍𐎎 (ʿlm) "to be known".
May further have a relation with Akkadian 𒂖𒆷𒈬𒌋𒀀 (/ellamu, illamu/, “front, before; both temporally and in location; coming before your time or being currently physically before you now”) via a sense chain of "front" ↔ "to be in front, to be preceding; to go ahead of" ↔ "to leave traces, footprints; to leave behind" ↔ "trace, footprint", the polar end of that shift represented by Arabic عَلَم (ʕalam) "footstep, trace, impression, mark, sign", from which perhaps the rest of the root would be denominally derived, via a sense development of "mark, sign" → "(prominent) mark, sign, landmark by which one may recognize (s.p.) or know (s.t.)" → "to know, to recognize, to distinguish; to be familiar with". Alternatively, the Akkadian word could be related via a sense chain of "(in) front" ↔ "in plain view, clearly discernable, prominent" ↔ "known, recognizable" ↔ "to know, recognize". In either case, if this Arabic root bares a relation with the Akkadian word, it may subsequently also have a connection with Hebrew ע־ל־ם (ʕ-l-m) "to disappear; to hide, conceal", also found in Aramaic.
ع ل م • (ʕ l m)