شيطان

See also: شیطان

Arabic

Etymology

Often interpreted as coming from the root ش ي ط (š-y-ṭ) meaning “to burn, scorch” and the ـَان (-ān) suffix forming adjectives. Given the historical precedence of Hebrew texts wherein the word is of relevance, it is likely that the Arabic word is a reinterpretation of Hebrew שָׂטָן (śāṭān), from a root relating to opposition or accusation.

Cognate with Classical Syriac ܣܛܢܐ (sāṭānā), Hebrew שָׂטָן (śāṭān), Ge'ez ሠይጣን (śäyṭan), ሰይጣን (säyṭan).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʃaj.tˤaːn/

Noun

شَيْطَان • (šayṭān) m (plural شَيَاطِين (šayāṭīn))

1. (defined) Satan, shaitan, the Devil

   Synonym: إِبْلِيس (ʔiblīs)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:208:

     يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا ادْخُلُوا فِي السِّلْمِ كَافَّةً وَلَا تَتَّبِعُوا خُطُوَاتِ الشَّيْطَانِ إِنَّهُ لَكُمْ عَدُوٌّ مُبِينٌ

     O you who have believed, enter into Islam completely [and perfectly] and do not follow the footsteps of Satan. Indeed, he is to you a clear enemy.

2. (religion) devil, evil jinn
3. demon, fiend

Declension

Declension of noun شَيْطَان (šayṭān)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيْطَان šayṭān	الشَّيْطَان aš-šayṭān	شَيْطَان šayṭān
Nominative	شَيْطَانٌ šayṭānun	الشَّيْطَانُ aš-šayṭānu	شَيْطَانُ šayṭānu
Accusative	شَيْطَانًا šayṭānan	الشَّيْطَانَ aš-šayṭāna	شَيْطَانَ šayṭāna
Genitive	شَيْطَانٍ šayṭānin	الشَّيْطَانِ aš-šayṭāni	شَيْطَانِ šayṭāni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيْطَانَيْن šayṭānayn	الشَّيْطَانَيْن aš-šayṭānayn	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Nominative	شَيْطَانَانِ šayṭānāni	الشَّيْطَانَانِ aš-šayṭānāni	شَيْطَانَا šayṭānā
Accusative	شَيْطَانَيْنِ šayṭānayni	الشَّيْطَانَيْنِ aš-šayṭānayni	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Genitive	شَيْطَانَيْنِ šayṭānayni	الشَّيْطَانَيْنِ aš-šayṭānayni	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيَاطِين šayāṭīn	الشَّيَاطِين aš-šayāṭīn	شَيَاطِين šayāṭīn
Nominative	شَيَاطِينُ šayāṭīnu	الشَّيَاطِينُ aš-šayāṭīnu	شَيَاطِينُ šayāṭīnu
Accusative	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna	الشَّيَاطِينَ aš-šayāṭīna	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna
Genitive	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna	الشَّيَاطِينِ aš-šayāṭīni	شَيَاطِينِ šayāṭīni

Related terms

• جِنّ (jinn, “jinn”)
• جَانّ (jānn, “jann”)
• نَسْنَاس (nasnās, “nasnas”)
• غُول (ḡūl, “ghoul”)

Descendants

• Maltese: xitan
• → Assamese: চৈতান (soitan)
• → Azerbaijani: şeytan
• → Bashkir: шайтан (şaytan)
• → Belarusian: шайта́н (šajtán)
• → Bengali: শয়তান (śoẏotan)
• → Bura: shatan
• → English: shaitan
• → Finnish: shaitan
• → French: chétane
• → Hausa: shaiɗan
• → Hindustani:

  → Hindi: शैतान (śaitān)

  → Urdu: شیطان (śaitān)

• → Indonesian: setan, syaitan
• → Japanese: シャイターン (shaitān)
• → Kannada: ಸೈತಾನ (saitāna)
• → Karaim: шайтан (şaytan)
• → Kazakh: сайтан (saitan), шайтан (şaitan)
• → Khalaj: Şəytân
• → Northern Kurdish: şeytan
• → Malay: syaitan, setan
• → Maranao: saitan, Saitan
• → Marathi: सैतान (saitān)
• → Oromo: sheetanna, seetanna
• → Pashto: شيطان (šaytãn)
• → Persian: شیطان (šaytân)
  • Tajik: шайтон (šayton)
• → Portuguese: shaitan
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਸ਼ੈਤਾਨ (śaitān)

  Shahmukhi script: شیطان (śet̤ān)

• → Ottoman Turkish: شیطان (şeytan)
  • Turkish: şeytan
  • → Albanian: shejtan
  • → Armenian: շեյթան (šeytʻan)
  • → Romanian: șeitan
  • → Bulgarian: шейта́н (šejtán)
  • → Macedonian: шејтан (šejtan)
  • → Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: ше́јта̄н

    Latin script: šéjtān

  • → Crimean Tatar: şeytan
• → Rohingya: cóitan
• → Russian: шайта́н (šajtán)
• → Somali: shayddaan
• → Swahili: shetani
  • → English: shetani
• → Sylheti: ꠡꠄꠔꠣꠘ (śoetan)
• → Tatar: шайтан (şaytan)
• → Tausug: saytan
• → Thai: ชัยฏอน (chai-dtɔɔn)
• → Turkmen: şeýtan
• → Ukrainian: шайта́н (šajtán)
• → Uyghur: شەيتان (sheytan)
• → Uzbek: shayton
• → Wolof: seytaane
• → Yakan: seyitan

References

• Haywood, J.A., Nahmad, H.M. (1965) “شيطان”, in A new Arabic grammar, 2^nd edition, London: Lund Humphries, →ISBN
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, pages 522–523
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[1] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 47
• Praetorius, Franz (1907) “Äthiopische Etymologien”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎^[2] (in German), volume 61, pages 619–620
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “شيطن”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN