سوس

Borrowed from Aramaic שׁוּשָׁא‎ / ܫܽܘܫܳܐ‎ (šūšā, “licorice”), from Akkadian 𒄑𒊺𒆕𒀀 (/sūsu, šūšu/, “licorice”); possibly related to Proto-Indo-European *swéh₂dus (“sweet”).

• IPA^(key): /suːs/

سُوس • (sūs) m

1. licorice
   • 2016 November 24, “شراب عرق السوس”, in ʾuḥibbu Dimašq‎:

     ‏يعتبر نبات السوس الدمشقي من أفضل الأنواع في العالم، ويسمى الشراب الذي يقطر يدويا من جذوره شراب عرق السوس وهو مفضل لدى الدمشقيين.‏‎

     The Damascene liquorice plant is esteemed to be of the most excellent sorts of the world, and the drink which is dropped by hand from its roots is called liquorice stem and the Damascenes are fond of it.

• → Portuguese: alcaçuz
• → Spanish: alcazuz, orozuz

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *sūs- (“moth; insect especially one that bites or chews up materials”), from Proto-Afro-Asiatic *suʔw- (“a kind of insect”), cognates with Akkadian 𒄴 (sāsu, “moth; biting insect”), Jewish Babylonian Aramaic ססא‎ (sāsā), Hebrew סָס‎ (sās), Classical Syriac ܣܣܐ‎ (sāsā).

• Noun: IPA^(key): /suːs/
• Verb: IPA^(key): /sa.wi.sa/

سُوس • (sūs) m (collective, singulative سُوسَة‎ (sūsa), plural سِيسَان‎ (sīsān))

1. maggot, moth-worm, woodworm, curculio, weevil
2. mite
3. rot, decay
   • c. 1200, يحيى بن محمد بن أحمد بن العوام‎ [Yaḥyā ibn muḥammad ibn ʾaḥmad ibn al-ʿawwām], José Antonio Banqueri, editor, كتاب الفلاحة‎ [Book on Agriculture], volume 1, Madrid: Imprenta Real, published 1802^IA, Cap. 9, Art. 1, page 508:

     ‏الإجاص قال غ وهو عبقر إذا أشرف وقدم فلا يتعرض عليه بالحديد فإن دعت ضرورة لقطع أعلاه فينظر شجرته فإن ظهر فيها السوس فتحامى بالقطع ولا تقرب بالحديد بوجه وتنقى ما دام أملس الساق والأغصان محدثا.‎‎

     About the prune, that is the plum, says Ibn Ḥajjāj that when it is high and old it should not meet the iron, but if necessity calls then the top can be cut and the tree cleaned, and if rot appears on it then it can be warded off by cutting, and the iron should not approach it as long as the stem is smooth and the branches new.

4. often used when referring to bacteria gnawing the teeth
   • 2018 June 12, “5 أسباب وراء الاضطرار لخلع الأسنان”, in Al-Bawwāba News‎:

     ‏قال باسم سمير، استشاري الأسنان، أن البكتيريا النافعة المتواجدة في الفم، تعمل على تكسير مكونات الطعام وبالتالى الإسراع من هضمه، لكن إن زادت عن حدها تحولت إلى سوس يأكل في الأسنان.‏‎

     Bāsim Samīr, a teeth consultant, said that useful bacteria found in the mouth work towards the decomposition of food components and hence towards speeding up their digestion, but when they grow about their limit they become a caries that eats from the teeth.

• سَوِسَ‎ (sawisa, “to be affected by worms”)
• تَسَوَّسَ‎ (tasawwasa, “to be affected by worms”)
• تَسَوُّس‎ (tasawwus, “mouth cavities”)

سَوِسَ • (sawisa) I, non-past يَسْوَسُ‎‎ (yaswasu)

1. (intransitive) to be gnawed, to be eaten away, to be rotten (especially by moth-worms or weevils)

From the root س و س‎ (s-w-s).

• IPA^(key): /saw.wa.sa/

سَوَّسَ • (sawwasa) II, non-past يُسَوِّسُ‎‎ (yusawwisu)

1. (ditransitive) to give someone regimen over, to let govern [+ لِ‎ (object) = who shall govern] [+accusative = what shall be governed]

• “šwš²”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• “šūšu (sūsu)”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD), volume 17, Š, part 3, Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1992, pages 385–386
• Freytag, Georg (1833), “سوس”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 375
• Lane, Edward William (1863), “سوس”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1465–1466
• Löw, Immanuel (1924) Die Flora der Juden‎ (in German), volume 2, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, pages 435–437
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎ (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, pages 378–379
• Wehr, Hans; Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985), “سوس”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, pages 612–613
• Zimmern, Heinrich (1915) Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (in German), Leipzig: A. Edelmann, page 58

سوس • (sos)

1. sauce