طاعون

Arabic

Etymology

Of the root ط ع ن (ṭ-ʕ-n). The pattern suggests a borrowing from Classical Syriac ܛܳܥܘܿܢܳܐ (ṭāʿōnā) from ܛܥܷܢ (ṭʿen, “to carry”), related to Arabic ظَعَنَ (ẓaʕana, “to depart”), though the Syriac is not known to mean a disease but “carrier”. The semantic evolution would either be via “to carry as a burden, to endure“ with the ailment understood as hardship, or via “transport” developing the meaning of transmission, the plague being transmitted quickly by vectors. Compare also the other Arabic name of the disease, مُوتَان (mūtān) from another Semitic language.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /tˤaː.ʕuːn/

Noun

طَاعُون • (ṭāʕūn) m (plural طَوَاعِين (ṭawāʕīn))

1. epidemic disease, plague, pestilence, pest

Declension

Declension of noun طَاعُون (ṭāʕūn)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	طَاعُون ṭāʕūn	الطَّاعُون aṭ-ṭāʕūn	طَاعُون ṭāʕūn
Nominative	طَاعُونٌ ṭāʕūnun	الطَّاعُونُ aṭ-ṭāʕūnu	طَاعُونُ ṭāʕūnu
Accusative	طَاعُونًا ṭāʕūnan	الطَّاعُونَ aṭ-ṭāʕūna	طَاعُونَ ṭāʕūna
Genitive	طَاعُونٍ ṭāʕūnin	الطَّاعُونِ aṭ-ṭāʕūni	طَاعُونِ ṭāʕūni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	طَاعُونَيْن ṭāʕūnayn	الطَّاعُونَيْن aṭ-ṭāʕūnayn	طَاعُونَيْ ṭāʕūnay
Nominative	طَاعُونَانِ ṭāʕūnāni	الطَّاعُونَانِ aṭ-ṭāʕūnāni	طَاعُونَا ṭāʕūnā
Accusative	طَاعُونَيْنِ ṭāʕūnayni	الطَّاعُونَيْنِ aṭ-ṭāʕūnayni	طَاعُونَيْ ṭāʕūnay
Genitive	طَاعُونَيْنِ ṭāʕūnayni	الطَّاعُونَيْنِ aṭ-ṭāʕūnayni	طَاعُونَيْ ṭāʕūnay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	طَوَاعِين ṭawāʕīn	الطَّوَاعِين aṭ-ṭawāʕīn	طَوَاعِين ṭawāʕīn
Nominative	طَوَاعِينُ ṭawāʕīnu	الطَّوَاعِينُ aṭ-ṭawāʕīnu	طَوَاعِينُ ṭawāʕīnu
Accusative	طَوَاعِينَ ṭawāʕīna	الطَّوَاعِينَ aṭ-ṭawāʕīna	طَوَاعِينَ ṭawāʕīna
Genitive	طَوَاعِينَ ṭawāʕīna	الطَّوَاعِينِ aṭ-ṭawāʕīni	طَوَاعِينِ ṭawāʕīni

Synonyms

• وَبَأ (wabaʔ), وَبَاء (wabāʔ), مُوتَان (mūtān)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: taun
• → Malay: taun
  • Indonesian: taun
• → Medieval Latin: althaum, althoin
• → Ottoman Turkish: طاعون (taʼun)
  • Turkish: taun
• → Persian: طاعون
  • → Gujarati: તાઊન (tāūna)
• → Uzbek: toun

References

• “ṭˁwn²”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 265
• Steiger, Arnald (1960) “Voces de origen oriental contenidas en el Tesoro lexicográfico de Samuel Gili Gaya”, in Revista de Filología Española‎^[1] (in Spanish), volume 43, numbers 1.^o–2.^o, →DOI, page 53

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic طَاعُون (ṭāʕūn, “plague”), probably from Classical Syriac ܛܳܥܘܿܢܳܐ (ṭāʿōnā).

Noun

طاعون • (taʼun) (plural طواعین (tavaʼin))

1. plague, bubonic plague, the pestilent disease caused by the virulent bacterium Yersinia pestis

   Synonyms: چوما (çuma), وبا (veba), یومروجق (yumrucak)

2. plague, pest, an epidemic or pandemic caused by any pestilence, but specifically by the bubonic plague

Derived terms

• طاعونی (taʼunî, “pestilential”)

Descendants

• Turkish: taun

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “taun”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4640
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962) “tâûn”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎^[2] (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 1244
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “طاعون”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[3], Constantinople: Mihran, page 792
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Pestis”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[4], Vienna, column 1292
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “طاعون”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[5], Vienna, column 3069
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “taun”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “طاعون”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[6], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1224

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian طاعُون (tā'ūn), from Arabic طَاعُون (ṭāʕūn).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /t̪ɑː.(ʔ)uːn/
• Rhymes: -uːn
• Hyphenation: طا‧عُون

Noun

طاعُون • (tā'ūn) m (Hindi spelling ताऊन)

1. an epidemic; plague

Declension

Declension of طاعون
	singular	plural
direct	طاعُون (tā'ūn)	طاعُون (tā'ūn)
oblique	طاعُون (tā'ūn)	طاعُونوں (tā'ūnō̃)
vocative	طاعُون (tā'ūn)	طاعُونو (tā'ūnō)

Further reading

• “طاعون”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “طاعون”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “طاعون”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.