اسم

See also: آسم, أسم, and أشم

Arabic

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *šim-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *(ʔi-)sim- (“name”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ism/
• (narrow) IPA^(key): [ʔism̩]

• Audio:

  (file)

  • IPA^(key): /i.sim/

Noun

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

1. name

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

   بِسْمِ اللّٰهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ ― bi-smi llāhi r-raḥmāni r-raḥīmi ― in the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate

   بِسْمِ ٱلْأَبِ وَٱلِٱبْنِ وَٱلرُّوحِ ٱلْقُدُسِ ― bi-smi l-ʾabi wа-l-ibni wа-r-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 adjectives, 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

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

Descendants

• Cypriot Arabic: اِسْمْ‎ (ism)
• Hijazi Arabic: اِسِم (isim)
• Maltese: isem
• Tunisian Arabic: اِسْمْ‎ (ism)
• → Azerbaijani: ایسیم, isim (or via Persian)
• → Bashkir: исем (isem)
• → Malay: اسم, isim
• → Persian: اسم (esm)
  • Tajik: исм (ism)
    • → Uzbek: ism
  • → Hindi: इस्म (isma)
  • → Urdu: اسم
  • → Ottoman Turkish: اسم
    • → Turkish: isim
• → Uyghur: ئىسىم (isim) (or via Persian)

Etymology 2

See the etymology of the corresponding lemma form.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /us.mu/

Verb

اُسْمُ • (usmu) (form I)

1. second-person masculine singular active 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 (isim)

1. Alternative spelling of ایسیم

---

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /isim/, [e̞se̞m]

Noun

اِسِم • (isim) m (plural أسماء ‎(ʼasmāʼ))

1. name

---

Malay

Alternative forms

• isim

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism), from Proto-Semitic *šim-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /isem/
• IPA^(key): /isɪm/
• Rhymes: -isem, -sem, -em

Noun

اسم (Rumi spelling isim)

1. name (word or phrase indicating a particular person, place, class or thing)

Synonyms

• nama / نام

---

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Persian اسم (esm), from Arabic اِسْم (ism), from Proto-Semitic *šim-.

Noun

اسم • (ism, isim)

1. name
2. (grammar) noun

Synonyms

• آد (ad)

---

Persian

Etymology

From Arabic اِسْم (ism), from Proto-Semitic *šim-.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /esm/, [ʔesm]

• audio:

  (file)

Noun

Dari	اسم
Iranian Persian
Tajik	исм

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

1. name

   Synonym: نام (nâm)

2. appellation

   Synonym: نامیده (nâmideh)

3. (grammar) noun

Hyponyms

• (grammar): اسم خاص

---

Tunisian Arabic

Noun

اِسْمْ (ʾism) m

1. name

   شِسْمِكْ ؟

   šismik

   What's your name?

2. noun
3. title

   مَا خْتَارِشْ اِسْمْ بَاهِي لِكْتَابُو

   mā ḫtāriš ʾism bāhī liktābū

   He didn't choose a good title for his book

4. first name

---

Urdu

Etymology 1

Borrowing from Sanskrit असम (asama).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ə.səm/

Adjective

اسم • (asam) (Hindi spelling असम)

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

Etymology 2

Ultimately from Arabic اِسْم (ism), from Proto-Semitic *šim-.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɪsm/

Noun

اسم • (ism) m (Hindi spelling इस्म)

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

Synonyms

• نام (nām)