سنوت

Arabic

Etymology

Compare سَنَا (sanā, “senna”), denoting plants and their seeds of similar avail; the ending -ūt is an Aramaic suffix; whereas according to G. S. Colin it seems to be a Yemenite, i. e. Modern South Arabian word; however it is but attested in Old Armenian սամիթ (samitʻ, “dill”). The Sunna use occurs in the same format (as a cure of every disease short of fatality) with شُونِيز (šūnīz); its meaning, kalonji, withal, is not ascribed to سَنُّوت (sannūt), and the tradition affirms that the original wording was الحَبّةُ السَوْدَاءُ (al-ḥabbatu s-sawdāʔu) and not الشُونِيزُ (aš-šūnīzu).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /san.nuːt/

Noun

سَنُّوت • (sannūt) m (rare)

1. inspissated fruits, syrup

   Synonym: رُبّ (rubb)

2. dill (Anethum graveolens)

   Synonym: شِبِثّ (šibiṯṯ)

   • 7th century CE, Sunan Ibn Mājah, section 31:

     سَمِعْتُ رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ – صَلَّى اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ – يَقُولُ «عَلَيْكُمْ بِالسَّنَى وَالسَّنُّوتِ فَإِنَّ فِيهِمَا شِفَاءً مِنْ كُلِّ دَاءٍ إِلَّا السَّامَ.» قِيلَ يَا رَسُولَ اللّٰهِ وَمَا السَّامُ قَالَ «الْمَوْتُ». قَالَ عَمْرٌو قَالَ ابْنُ أَبِي عَبْلَةَ السَّنُّوتُ الشِّبِتُّ وَقَالَ آخَرُونَ بَلْ هُوَ الْعَسَلُ الَّذِي يَكُونُ فِي زِقَاقِ السَّمْنِ وَهُوَ قَوْلُ الشَّاعِرِ «هُمُ السَّمْنُ بِالسَّنُّوتِ لَا أَلْسَ فِيهِمُ وَهُمْ يَمْنَعُونَ جَارَهُمْ أَنْ يُقَرَّدَا».

     samiʕtu rasūla llāhi – ṣallā llāhu ʕalay-hi wasallama – yaqūlu “ʕalay-kum bi-s-sanā wa-s-sannūti fa-ʔinna fī-himā šifāʔan min kulli dāʔin ʔillā s-sāma.” qīla yā rasūla llāhi wa-mā s-sāmu qāla “l-mawtu”. qāla ʕamrun qāla bnu ʔabī ʕablata s-sannūtu š-šibittu wa-qāla ʔāḵarūna bal huwa l-ʕasalu allaḏī yakūnu fī ziqāqi s-samni wa-huwa qawlu š-šāʕiri “humu s-samnu bi-s-sannūti lā ʔalsa fī-himu wa-hum yamnaʕūna jāra-hum ʔan yuqarradā”.

     I heard the Messenger of God (PBUH) say “You should intake senna and sannūt, for it is a cure of every disease short of fatality. One said: “O Messenger of God, what is fatality?” He said ”death.” ʿAmr said that Ibn ʾAbū ʿAbla said that Sannūt is dill. But others say it is a honey kept in skins of fat and a poet says “they are fat with honey but no sour milk in them and they prevent that their neighbour gets picked on.”

3. fennel (Foeniculum vulgare)

   Synonym: شَمَر (šamar)

4. cumin (Cuminum cyminum)

   Synonym: كَمُّون (kammūn)

Declension

Declension of noun سَنُّوت (sannūt)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	سَنُّوت sannūt	السَّنُّوت as-sannūt	سَنُّوت sannūt
Nominative	سَنُّوتٌ sannūtun	السَّنُّوتُ as-sannūtu	سَنُّوتُ sannūtu
Accusative	سَنُّوتًا sannūtan	السَّنُّوتَ as-sannūta	سَنُّوتَ sannūta
Genitive	سَنُّوتٍ sannūtin	السَّنُّوتِ as-sannūti	سَنُّوتِ sannūti

References

• Georges S. Colin (1978) “Kammūn”, in Encyclopaedia of Islam. Second Edition, volume 4, Leiden: Brill, page 522b
• Freytag, Georg (1833) “سنوت”, 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, page 362b
• Kazimirski, Albin de Biberstein (1860) “سنوت”, in Dictionnaire arabe-français contenant toutes les racines de la langue arabe, leurs dérivés, tant dans l’idiome vulgaire que dans l’idiome littéral, ainsi que les dialectes d’Alger et de Maroc‎^[2] (in French), volume I, Paris: Maisonneuve et C^ie, page 1149
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “سنوت”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[3], London: Williams & Norgate, page 1440
• Wahrmund, Adolf (1887) “سنوت”, in Handwörterbuch der neu-arabischen und deutschen Sprache‎^[4] (in German), volume 1, Gießen: J. Ricker’sche Buchhandlung, page 935