اسم

See also: آسم, أسم, and أشم

Arabic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *šim-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *sim- (“name”). Leveled in Arabic to the roots و س م (w-s-m) and س م و (s-m-w).

Cognate with Hebrew שם (shém).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ism/

• Audio:

  (file)

  • (Gulf) IPA^(key): /i.sim/

Noun

اِسْم • (ism) m (plural أَسْمَاء (ʔasmāʔ) or أَسَامٍ (ʔasāmin))

1. name

   مَا ٱسْمُكَ؟ ― mā smuka? ― What is your name?

   بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ― bismi allāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi ― in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

   بِسْمِ ٱلْآبِ وَٱلِٱبْنِ وَٱلرُّوحِ ٱلْقُدُسِ ― bismi l-ʔābi wal-ibni war-rūḥi l-qudusi ― In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost

2. appellation
3. reputation, prestige
4. (grammar) noun (a category above, including pronouns and substantives like adjectives and participles, see the derived terms to get a picture of the usage)

Declension

Declension of noun اِسْم (ism)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	اِسْم ism	الِاسْم al-ism	اِسْم ism
Nominative	اِسْمٌ ismun	الِاسْمُ al-ismu	اِسْمُ ismu
Accusative	اِسْمًا isman	الِاسْمَ al-isma	اِسْمَ isma
Genitive	اِسْمٍ ismin	الِاسْمِ al-ismi	اِسْمِ ismi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	اِسْمَيْن ismayn	الِاسْمَيْن al-ismayn	اِسْمَيْ ismay
Nominative	اِسْمَانِ ismāni	الِاسْمَانِ al-ismāni	اِسْمَا ismā
Accusative	اِسْمَيْنِ ismayni	الِاسْمَيْنِ al-ismayni	اِسْمَيْ ismay
Genitive	اِسْمَيْنِ ismayni	الِاسْمَيْنِ al-ismayni	اِسْمَيْ ismay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote‎; broken plural diptote in ـٍ (-in)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَسْمَاء‎; أَسَامِي ʔasmāʔ‎; ʔasāmī	الْأَسْمَاء‎; الْأَسَامِي al-ʔasmāʔ‎; al-ʔasāmī	أَسْمَاء‎; أَسَامِي ʔasmāʔ‎; ʔasāmī
Nominative	أَسْمَاءٌ‎; أَسَامٍ ʔasmāʔun‎; ʔasāmin	الْأَسْمَاءُ‎; الْأَسَامِي al-ʔasmāʔu‎; al-ʔasāmī	أَسْمَاءُ‎; أَسَامِي ʔasmāʔu‎; ʔasāmī
Accusative	أَسْمَاءً‎; أَسَامِيَ ʔasmāʔan‎; ʔasāmiya	الْأَسْمَاءَ‎; الْأَسَامِيَ al-ʔasmāʔa‎; al-ʔasāmiya	أَسْمَاءَ‎; أَسَامِيَ ʔasmāʔa‎; ʔasāmiya
Genitive	أَسْمَاءٍ‎; أَسَامٍ ʔasmāʔin‎; ʔasāmin	الْأَسْمَاءِ‎; الْأَسَامِي al-ʔasmāʔi‎; al-ʔasāmī	أَسْمَاءِ‎; أَسَامِي ʔasmāʔi‎; ʔasāmī

Derived terms

• اَلْأَسْمَاء الْخَمْسَة (al-ʔasmāʔ al-ḵamsa, “the five nouns”)
• اِسْم آلَة (ism ʔāla, “nomen instrumenti”)
• اِسْم إِشَارَة (ism ʔišāra, “pronomen demonstrativum”)
• اِسْم اِسْتِفْهَام (ism istifhām, “pronomen interrogativum”)
• اِسْم تَفْضِيل (ism tafḍīl, “elativus”)
• اِسْم جَمْع (ism jamʕ, “nomen generis”)
• اِسْم جِنْس (ism jins, “nomen appellativum”)
• اِسْم جِنْس إِفْرَادِيّ (ism jins ʔifrādiyy)
• اِسْم جِنْس جَمْعِيّ (ism jins jamʕiyy)
• اِسْم زَمَان (ism zamān, “nomen temporis”)
• اِسْم عَدَد (ism ʕadad, “nomen numeri”)
• اِسْم عَلَم (ism ʕalam, “nomen proprium”)
• اِسْم فَاعِل (ism fāʕil, “participium activum”)
• اِسْم مَرَّة (ism marra, “nomen vicis”)
• اِسْم مَفْعُول (ism mafʕūl, “participium passivum”)
• اِسْم مَقْصُور (ism maqṣūr, “noun ending in ى or ا”)
• اِسْم مَكَان (ism makān, “nomen loci”)
• اِسْم مَنْقُوص (ism manqūṣ, “noun ending in ـٍ (-in)”)
• اِسْم مَوْصُول (ism mawṣūl, “pronomen relativum”)
• اِسْم نَوْع (ism nawʕ, “nomen speciei”)
• اِسْم هَيْئَة (ism hayʔa, “nomen speciei”)
• اِسْم وَحْدَة (ism waḥda, “nomen unitatis”)
• اِسْم وِعَاء (ism wiʕāʔ, “nomen vasis”)
• اِسْمِيّ (ismiyy, “nominal, titular”)

 

Descendants

• Cypriot Arabic: ism
• Egyptian Arabic: إسم (ʔism)
• Hijazi Arabic: اسم (isim)
• Maltese: isem
• Moroccan Arabic: اسم (ism)
• Tunisian Arabic: اسم (ism)
• → Azerbaijani: ایسیم, isim (or via Persian)
• → Bashkir: исем (isem)
• → Kazakh: есім (esım)
• → Malay: اسم, isim
• → Classical Persian: اسم (ism) (see there for further descendants)
• → Swahili: isimu

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Verb

اُسْمُ • (usmu) (form I) /us.mu/

1. second-person masculine singular imperative of سَمَا (samā)

Further reading

• Freytag, Georg (1833) “اسم”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, pages 359–360
• Carter, Michael George (2017) “The Seven Deadly Sins of Arabic Studies”, in Manuel Sartori, Manuela E. B. Giolfo, Philippe Cassuto, editors, Approaches to the History and Dialectology of Arabic in Honor of Pierre Larcher (Studies in Semitic Languages and Linguistics; 88), Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, pages 519–521
• Kasher, Almog (2009 October 1) “Term Ism in Medieval Arabic Grammatical Tradition: A Hyponym of Itself”, in Journal of Semitic Studies‎^[2], Oxford Academix, retrieved 26 October 2018
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “سم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Azerbaijani

Noun

اسم (ism) (definite accusative اسمی, plural اسملر)

1. Alternative spelling of ایسیم

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /i.sim/, [ɪsɪm]

Noun

اسم • (isim) m (construct state اِسْم (ism), plural أسامي (ʔasāmi) or أسماء (ʔasmāʔ))

1. name

Malay

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Pronunciation

• (Johor-Selangor) IPA^(key): /isem/
• (Riau-Lingga) IPA^(key): /isɪm/
• Rhymes: -isem, -sem, -em

Noun

اسم (plural اسم-اسم or اسم۲, informal 1st possessive اسمکو, 2nd possessive اسممو, 3rd possessive اسمڽ)

1. Jawi spelling of isim‎

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Noun

اسم • (ism, isim) (plural اسملر)

1. name
2. (grammar) noun

Synonyms

• آد (ad)

Descendants

• Turkish: isim

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔism]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪsm]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪsm]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪsm]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔism]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔesm]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔism]

Readings
Classical reading?	ism
Dari reading?	ism
Iranian reading?	esm
Tajik reading?	ism

• Audio (Iran):

  (file)

Noun

Regional synonyms of "name"

Dari	نام
Iranian Persian	اسم
Tajik	ном

اسم • (esm) (plural اسم‌ها (esm-hâ) or اسامی (asâmi) or اَسْماء (asmâ'))

1. (especially Iran) name

   Synonym: نام (nâm)

   • 2024 April 30, “یک سند محرمانه از تعرض جنسی به نیکا شاکرمی و جزئیات قتل او به دست نیروهای امنیتی ایران پرده برداشت”, in bbc.com/persian‎^[3], BBC Persian:

     این اسناد شامل اسامی قاتلان نیکا و فرماندهان ارشدی است که سعی کردند واقعیت این ماجرا را مخفی کنند.

     in asnâd šâmel-e asâmi-ye qâtelân-e nikâ va farmândehân-e aršâdi ast ke sa'y kardand vâqe'iyat-e in mâjarâ râ maxfi konand.

     These documents contain the names of Nika's murderers and the senior commanders who attempted to hide the truth behind the incident.

2. appellation

   Synonym: نامیده (nâmide)

3. (grammar) noun

   Hyponym: اسم خاص (esm-e xâs)

Usage notes

• (name): In Iran, نام is more common in formal speech but اسم is more common in informal speech. However, اسم can be used in formal contexts as well. In Dari and Tajik, اسم is not the common word for "name" at any level of formality.

Descendants

• → Chagatai: اسم
  • Uzbek: ism
  • Uyghur: ئىسىم (isim)
• → Gujarati: ઇસમ (isam)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: इस्म (isma)

  Urdu: اِسْم (ism)

• → Kannada: ಇಸಮು (isamu)
• → Marathi: इसम (isam)
• → Ottoman Turkish: اسم (ism, isim)
  • Turkish: isim

South Levantine Arabic

Root
و س م
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔism/, [ˈʔɪ.s(ɪ)m]
• IPA^(key): /ʔusm/, [ˈʔʊ.s(ʊ)m]

• Audio (Jerusalem):

  (file)

Noun

اسم • (ʔism, ʔusm) m (plural أسامي (ʔasāmi))

1. name

   اسم العيلة ― ʔism il-ʕēle ― surname, family name

   Audio (Ramallah):

   (file)

   اسم الشخص ― ʔism iš-šaḵṣ ― first name

   Audio (Ramallah):

   (file)

   شو اسمك؟ ― šu ʔismak? ― What's your name?

   شو الاسم الكريم؟ ― šu l-ʔism il-karīm? ― What's your noble name?

2. noun

Tunisian Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Noun

اسم (ʔism) m

1. name

   شسمك ؟

   šismik

   What's your name?

2. noun
3. title

   ما ختارش اسم باهي لكتابه

   mā ḵtāriš ʔism bāhi liktābu

   He didn't choose a good title for his book

4. first name

Urdu

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian اسم (ism), from Arabic اِسْم (ism).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɪsm/

Noun

اِسْم • (ism) m (Hindi spelling इस्म)

1. name, appellation, designation
2. (grammar) noun, substantive

Synonyms

• نام (nām)

Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Sanskrit असम (asama).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ə.səm/

Adjective

اَسَم • (asam) (Hindi spelling असम)

1. unequal
2. uneven
3. dissimilar
4. unusual

Further reading

• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “اسم”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.