صوم

Arabic

Etymology

Compare with Hebrew צוֹם (ṣōm), Ge'ez ጾም (ṣom, “fast”), Ugaritic 𐎑𐎎 (ẓm, “fast”). Nöldeke was convinced that the meaning “to fast” is borrowed from the Aramaic צומא /‎ ܨܰܘܡܳܐ (ṣōmā, ṣawmā, “fast”), referring to the verb’s meaning “to stand still”, Jeffery says that the Arabic verb is “obviously denominative from صَوْم (ṣawm)” and notes that the term is only used in late Qurʾānic passages.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sˤawm/

Noun

صَوْم • (ṣawm) m

1. verbal noun of صَامَ (ṣāma) (form I)
   1. fast, sawm (period of abstainment, usually from food and drink)

Declension

Declension of noun صَوْم (ṣawm)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	صَوْم ṣawm	الصَّوْم aṣ-ṣawm	صَوْم ṣawm
Nominative	صَوْمٌ ṣawmun	الصَّوْمُ aṣ-ṣawmu	صَوْمُ ṣawmu
Accusative	صَوْمًا ṣawman	الصَّوْمَ aṣ-ṣawma	صَوْمَ ṣawma
Genitive	صَوْمٍ ṣawmin	الصَّوْمِ aṣ-ṣawmi	صَوْمِ ṣawmi

Synonyms

• صِيَام (ṣiyām)

Related terms

• صَلَاة (ṣalāh, “prayer, salat”)
• زَكَاة (zakāh, “almsgiving, zakat”)
• دُعَاء (duʕāʔ, “supplication, du'a'”)

References

• Freytag, Georg (1833) “صوم”, 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, page 534
• Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 201–202
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “صوم”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[2], London: Williams & Norgate
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[3] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 36