לחמא

Aramaic

Etymology

Compare Hebrew לֶחֶם (lékhem, “bread, food”) and Arabic لَحْم (laḥm, “meat”)

Noun

לַחְמָא • (laḥmā) m (uncountable)

1. bread
   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Berachot 35b:

     אלא חמרא סעיד ומשמח לחמא סעיד מיסעד שמוחי לא משמח

     ʾellā ḥamrā śəʿīḏ ūməsammḗaḥ laḥmā śəʿīḏ miśʿaḏ śammūḥē lā məsammḗaḥ

     Only wine satiates and makes one happy; bread indeed satiates, but does not actually make one happy.

   • Passover Haggadah:

     הָא לַחְמָא עַנְיָא דִּי אֲכָלוּ אַבְהָתָנָא בְּאַרְעָא דְמִצְרַיִם

     hā laḥmā ʿanyā dī ʾăḵā́lū ʾaḇhāṯānā bəʾarʿā ḏəmiṣráyim

     this is the poor bread that our ancestors ate in the Land of Egypt

2. food
   • Tanach, Daniel 5:1, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     בֵּלְשַׁאצַּר מַלְכָּא עֲבַד לְחֶם רַב לְרַבְרְבָנוֹהִי אֲלַף וְלָקֳבֵל אַלְפָּא חַמְרָא שָׁתֵה׃

     bēləšaṣṣar malkā ʿăḇaḏ ləḥem raḇ ləraḇrəḇānṓhī ʾălap̄ wəloqŏḇēl ʾalpā ḥamrā šāṯē.

     Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand.

Descendants

• Middle Persian: (in spelling) 𐭫𐭧𐭬𐭠 (nān [LḤMʾ])