الشام

Arabic

Alternative forms

  • شَأْم (šaʾm)

Etymology

From the root ش ء م (š-ʾ-m), a variant of ش م ل (š-m-l); contrasted with اليَمَن (al-yaman) from *yamīn- (right-hand side; southward). Cognate with Hebrew שְׂמֹאל (s'mól, left), Akkadian 𒆏 (GÚB, šumēlu, left side), Aramaic סְמָלָא /‎ ܣܡܠܐ (semālā, left side), Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎀𐎍 (šmảl). The northern sense derives from the left-hand side oriented with the sunrise, also attested in Old South Arabian 𐩦𐩱𐩣 (s2ʔm, North).

Proper noun

الشَّام (aš-šām) m

  1. the city of Damascus
  2. the area of Greater Syria, the Levant

Declension

Synonyms

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