زمان

See also: رمان‎

Arabic

Etymology

With the alternative form زَمَن‎ (zaman) an old loan, becoming productive in the root ز م ن‎ (z-m-n), perhaps directly borrowed from or from a close Aramaic relative to Imperial Aramaic 𐡆𐡌𐡍‎ (zmn), 𐡆𐡌𐡀𐡍‎ (zmʾn), borrowed from a late pronunciation of the religiously relevant Old Persian *jamānā (“time”), reconstructible for Proto-Iranian *ǰámaHnaH, of a native derivation type from Proto-Indo-European.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /za.maːn/

Noun

زَمَان • (zamān) m (plural أَزْمِنَة‎ (ʔazmina))

1. (uncountable and countable) time

   Synonym: زَمَن‎ (zaman)

   Coordinate term: مَكَان‎ (makān)

2. age (A particular period of time in history)
3. season

   ‏أَزْمِنَةُ ٱلسَّنَةِ هِيَ: ٱلْخَرِيفُ وَٱلشِّتَاءُ وَٱلرَّبِيعُ وَٱلصَّيْفُ‎

   ʔazminatu s-sanati hiya: l-ḵarīfu waš-šitāʔu war-rabīʕu waṣ-ṣayfu

   The seasons of the year are: autumn, winter, spring and summer.

Declension

Declension of noun زَمَان (zamān)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زَمَان zamān	الزَّمَان‎ az-zamān	زَمَان zamān
Nominative	زَمَانٌ zamānun	الزَّمَانُ‎ az-zamānu	زَمَانُ zamānu
Accusative	زَمَانًا‎ zamānan	الزَّمَانَ‎ az-zamāna	زَمَانَ zamāna
Genitive	زَمَانٍ zamānin	الزَّمَانِ‎ az-zamāni	زَمَانِ zamāni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	زَمَانَيْن‎ zamānayn	الزَّمَانَيْن‎ az-zamānayn	زَمَانَيْ‎ zamānay
Nominative	زَمَانَانِ‎ zamānāni	الزَّمَانَانِ‎ az-zamānāni	زَمَانَا‎ zamānā
Accusative	زَمَانَيْنِ‎ zamānayni	الزَّمَانَيْنِ‎ az-zamānayni	زَمَانَيْ‎ zamānay
Genitive	زَمَانَيْنِ‎ zamānayni	الزَّمَانَيْنِ‎ az-zamānayni	زَمَانَيْ‎ zamānay
Plural	broken plural triptote in ـَة (-a)
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَزْمِنَة‎ ʔazmina	الْأَزْمِنَة‎ al-ʔazmina	أَزْمِنَة‎ ʔazminat
Nominative	أَزْمِنَةٌ‎ ʔazminatun	الْأَزْمِنَةُ‎ al-ʔazminatu	أَزْمِنَةُ‎ ʔazminatu
Accusative	أَزْمِنَةً‎ ʔazminatan	الْأَزْمِنَةَ‎ al-ʔazminata	أَزْمِنَةَ‎ ʔazminata
Genitive	أَزْمِنَةٍ‎ ʔazminatin	الْأَزْمِنَةِ‎ al-ʔazminati	أَزْمِنَةِ‎ ʔazminati

Derived terms

• زَمَانِيّ‎ (zamāniyy)
• زَمَكَان‎ (zamakān)

Descendants

• Maltese: żmien

References

• Freytag, Georg (1833), “زمان”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum (in Latin), volume 2, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 256
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “زمن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 444

Khalaj

Noun

زَمان (zamân) (definite accusative زَمانؽ‎, plural زَمانلار‎)

1. Arabic spelling of zamân (“time”)

Declension

Declension of زمان

	singular	plural
nominative	زمان	زمانلار‎
genitive	زمانؽیݧ‎	زمانلارؽیݧ‎
dative	زمانقا‎	زمانلارقا‎
definite accusative	زمانؽ‎	زمانلارؽ‎
locative	زمانچا‎	زمانلارچا‎
ablative	زماندان‎	زمانلاردان‎
instrumental	زمانلان‎	زمانلارلان‎
equative	زمانوارا‎	زمانلاروارا‎
quantitative	زمانقَدَر‎	زمانلارقَدَر‎

Malay

Alternative forms

• zaman

Etymology

From Persian زمان‎ (zamân).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zaman/
• Rhymes: -aman, -man, -an

Noun

زمان (Rumi spelling zaman‎, plural زمان٢‎)

1. age (particular period of time in history)

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian 𐭥𐭣𐭭𐭠‎ (ODNA), 𐭦𐭬𐭠𐭭𐭩‎ (ẕmʾn'), 𐭦𐭬𐭭𐭩‎ (zmn'), 𐫉𐫖𐫀𐫗‎ (zmʾn /⁠zamān⁠/), from Old Persian *jamānā.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [za.mɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [zä.mɑːn]

• (Dari, formal/KBL) IPA^(key): [zä.mɑːn]
  • (Hazaragi/approx.) IPA^(key): [zä.mɔːn]

• (Iran, formal/TEH) IPA^(key): [zæ.mɒːn]

• (Tajik, formal/DUS) IPA^(key): [zä.mɔn]

• Phonetic Persian:

Traditional: [زَمان]‎

Iranian: [زَمان]‎

Readings
Classical reading?	zamān
Dari reading?	zamān
Iranian reading?	zamân
Tajik reading?	zamon

• Rhymes: -ân

Noun

Dari	زمان
Iranian Persian
Tajik	замон

زمان • (zamân)

1. time (referring to a broad time period like epoch, period, season, etc. It is not the type of time that one reads from a watch or a clock)
2. (physics) time
3. season
4. epoch
5. (grammar) tense
6. death

Synonyms

• (time): وقت‎ (vaqt)
• (death): مرگ‎ (marg)

Derived terms

• زمانمند‎ (zamânmand)
• زمانه‎ (zamâne)
• زمانی‎ (zamâni)
• زمان‌بندی‎ (zamân-bandi)
• فضازمان‎ (fazâ-zamân)

Descendants

• → Armenian: ժամանակ (žamanak)
• → Azerbaijani: zaman
• → Bashkir: заман (zaman)
• → Gilaki: [script needed] (zəmån)
• → Kazakh: заман (zaman)
• → Kermanic:

  Qohrudi: zamān

• → Khalaj: zamân
• → Central Kurdish: زه‌مان‎ (zeman)
• → Kyrgyz: заман (zaman)
• → Malay: زمان‎ / zaman
  • Indonesian: zaman, jaman
• → Ossetian: за́ман (záman)
• → Pashto: زمانه‎ (zamâna)
• → Ottoman Turkish: زمان‎ (zaman)
  • → Turkish: zaman
  • → Greek: ζαμάνι (zamáni)
  • → Albanian: zaman
  • → Serbo-Croatian: заман
• → Tatar: заман (zaman)
• → Waigali: zëmën

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic زَمَان‎ (zamān).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /za.maːn/, [zaˈmæːn], [zaˈmaːn]

• Audio (Amman)

  (file)

Noun

زمان • (zamān) m (plural زمانات‎ (zamānāt))

1. time, period, era (in the past)

   ‏كان عايش على زمان الأتراك.‎‎

   kān ʕāyeš ʕala zamān il-ʔatrāk

   He lived in the Ottoman period.

   (literally, “He was living in the time of the Turks.”)

2. (definite) long ago

   ‏انتا متذكر كيف كانت أيّام زمان؟‎‎

   enta mitzakker kīf kānat ʔayyām zamān?

   Do you remember how the old days used to be?

   (literally, “Do you remember how the days of long ago were?”)

Adverb

زمان • (zamān)

1. (in a) long time

   ‏زمان ما رحت على رام الله.‎‎

   zamān mā ruḥt ʕala rām-allah

   I haven't been to Ramallah in a long time.

   ‏ما شفته من زمان.‎‎

   mā šufto min zamān.

   I haven't seen him in a long time.

   ‏زمان عنّك.‎‎

   zamān ʕannak

   Long time no see.

   (literally, “A long time from you.”)

See also

• وقت‎ (waʔt, “time”)
• مرّة‎ (marra, “time, instance”)