גשם

Hebrew

Root
ג־שׁ־ם (g-sh-m)
2 terms

גשם יורד על האדמה ומרטיב אותה

Rain falls on the ground and wets it.

Etymology

Compare Ugaritic 𐎂𐎌𐎎 (gšm, “rain, downpour”). The sense "body" (and, by extension, "substance") is first attested in Aramaic parts of the Book of Daniel and later gained currency in Medieval Hebrew. This sense appears to represent a borrowing from Aramaic, for which compare Classical Syriac ܓܘܫܡܐ and confer Arabic جِسْم (jism).

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ɡaʃm/
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /ˈɡeʃem/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

גֶּשֶׁם • (géshem) m (plural indefinite גְּשָׁמִים, singular construct גֶּשֶׁם־, plural construct גִּשְׁמֵי־) [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. (meteorology) rain

   Synonym: מָטָר (matár)

2. (Biblical Hebrew, Mishnaic Hebrew) shower, heavy rain
3. flood
4. (Medieval Hebrew) body
5. substance

Declension

Declension of גֶּשֶׁם

	isolated forms		with possessive pronouns
Number:	State:	form	Person:	singular		plural
				m	f	m	f
singular	indefinite	גֶּשֶׁם	first	גִּשְׁמִי		גִּשְׁמֵנוּ
	definite	הַגֶּשֶׁם	second	גִּשְׁמְךָ	גִּשְׁמֵךְ	גִּשְׁמְכֶם	גִּשְׁמְכֶן
	construct	גֶּשֶׁם־	third	גִּשְׁמוֹ	גִּשְׁמָהּ	גִּשְׁמָם	גִּשְׁמָן
plural	indefinite	גְּשָׁמִים	first	גשמיי / גְּשָׁמַי		גְּשָׁמֵינוּ
	definite	הַגְּשָׁמִים	second	גְּשָׁמֶיךָ	גשמייך / גְּשָׁמַיִךְ	גִּשְׁמֵיכֶם	גִּשְׁמֵיכֶן
	construct	גִּשְׁמֵי־	third	גְּשָׁמָיו	גְּשָׁמֶיהָ	גִּשְׁמֵיהֶם	גִּשְׁמֵיהֶן

Derived terms

• גָּשׁוּם (gashúm)
• ירד גשם (yarád géshem)

References

• H1653 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• H1655 in Strong, James (1979), Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987), “גֶּשֶׁם”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 111a
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903), A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature‎^[2], London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 274a
• “גשם” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language
• "גשם" in the Noun Declension Tables of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• גשם on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he