amen

See also: Amen, ámen, amén, àmen, âmen, āmén, åmen, and αμήν

English

Etymology

From Middle English amen, from Old English, from Ecclesiastical Latin āmēn, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”) (cognate with Arabic آمِينَ‎ (ʾāmīna), Classical Syriac ܐܡܝܢ‎ (ʾāmên)). In Old English, it was used only at the end of the Gospels. Elsewhere, it was translated as sōþlīċe! (“truly”, “indeed!”), swā hit is (“so it is”), and sīe! (“[so] be it!”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /eɪˈmɛn/, /ɑːˈmɛn/, /ˈeɪ.mɛn/
  • Before the 1880s only the pronunciation /eɪˈmɛn/ was recorded; today both are used, sometimes even by the same speaker depending on the context.

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

  • Audio (UK)

    (file)

• Rhymes: -ɛn

Adverb

amen (not comparable)

1. (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) At the end of religious prayers: so be it.
   • 1549 March 7​, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “At the Communion”, in The Booke of the Common Prayer and Administration of the Sacramentes, […], London: […] Edowardi Whitchurche […], OCLC 56485293, folio lxxii, recto:

     As it was in the beginning, is nowe, and euerſhall be: worlde without ende. Amen.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Nehemiah 5:13, column 1:

     Alſo I ſhooke my lap, and ſaid, So God ſhake out euery man from his houſe, and from his labour, that performeth not this promiſe, euen thus be he ſhaken out, and emptied. And all the Congregation ſaid, Amen, and praiſed the Lord. And the people did according to this promiſe.

   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Psalms 72:18–19, column 1:

     Bleſſed be the Lord God, the God of Iſrael, who only doth wonderous things. And bleſſed be his glorious name for euer, and let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen, and Amen.

   • 1662, Thomas Cranmer [et al.], compilers, “Forms of Prayer to be used at Sea”, in The Book of Common-Prayer, and Administration of the Sacraments, […], London: […] John Bill, and Christopher Barker, […], OCLC 1053343847, column 2:

     For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

2. In many Abrahamic religious texts and creeds: truly, verily.
   • 1582, Bible in Rhemish translation, John 3:5:

     Amen, amen, I say to thee, except a man be born again, he can not see the kingdom of God.

Derived terms

• awoman

Descendants

• → Tokelauan: amene

Translations

so be it

• Albanian: amin (sq)
• Amharic: አሜን (ʾämen)
• Arabic: آمِينَ‎ (ʾāmīna)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܐܡܝܢ‎ (ʾāmên)

  Jewish Aramaic: אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn)

• Armenian: ամեն (hy) (amen)
• Azerbaijani: amin
• Belarusian: амі́н (amín)
• Bulgarian: ами́н (bg) (amín)
• Cherokee: ᎡᎺᏅ (emenv)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 阿們, 阿们 (aa³ mun⁴), 亞孟, 亚孟 (aa³ maang⁶) (Catholic), 誠心所願, 诚心所愿 (sing⁴ sam¹ so² jyun⁶)

  Hakka: 阿愐 (â-mén, a-mén)

  Mandarin: 阿門 (zh), 阿门 (zh) (āmén), 阿們 (zh), 阿们 (zh) (āmén), 亞孟, 亚孟 (yàmèng) (Catholic)

  Min Nan: a-men, 心所願, 心所愿 (sim-só͘-goān), 亞孟, 亚孟 (a-bēng, à-bēng)

• Czech: amen (cs)
• Danish: amen (da)
• Dutch: amen (nl)
• Esperanto: amen
• Estonian: aamen (et)
• Faroese: amen, ámmin
• Finnish: aamen (fi)
• French: amen (fr)
• Ge'ez: አሜን (ʾämen)
• Georgian: ამინ (ka) (amin)
• German: amen (de)
• Greek: αμήν (el) (amín)

  Ancient Greek: ἀμήν (amḗn)

• Hausa: amin
• Hebrew: אָמֵן‎ (he) (amén)
• Hindi: तथास्तु (tathāstu), आमेन (āmen), आमीन (āmīn)
• Hungarian: ámen (hu)
• Icelandic: amen

• Indonesian: amin (id)
• Irish: áiméan
• Italian: amen (it), così sia (it)
• Japanese: アーメン (ja) (āmen)
• Kazakh: әумин (äwmïn)
• Korean: 아멘 (amen)
• Latin: āmēn (la)
• Latvian: āmen
• Lithuanian: amen
• Macedonian: амин (amin)
• Malay: amin
• Maori: āmine, āmene
• Middle English: zuo by hit
• Navajo: tʼáá ákótʼée doo
• Norwegian: amen (no)
• Parthian: 𐭀𐭌𐭉𐭍‎ (ʾmyn /āmēn/)
• Persian: آمین‎ (fa) (âmin)
• Polish: amen (pl)
• Portuguese: amém (pt)
• Romanian: amin (ro)
• Russian: ами́нь (ru) (amínʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: amen
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: амен

  Roman: amen (sh)

• Slovak: amen
• Slovene: amen (sl)
• Spanish: amén (es)
• Swedish: amen (sv)
• Tagalog: amen
• Tajik: амин (amin)
• Thai: อามิน, เอเมน, อาเมน
• Tok Pisin: tru
• Turkish: amin (tr)
• Ukrainian: амі́нь (uk) (amínʹ)
• Urdu: آمین‎ (ur) (āmīn)
• Uzbek: omin (uz)
• Veps: amin'
• Yiddish: אָמן‎ (omeyn)

truly, verily

• Arabic: آمِين‎ (ʾāmīn)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܐܡܝܢ‎ (ʾāmên)

  Jewish Aramaic: אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn)

• Armenian: ամեն (hy) (amen)
• Bulgarian: амин (bg) (amin)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 阿們, 阿们 (aa³ mun⁴), 亞孟, 亚孟 (aa³ maang⁶) (Catholic)

  Mandarin: 阿門 (zh), 阿门 (zh) (āmén), 阿們 (zh), 阿们 (zh) (āmén), 亞孟, 亚孟 (yàmèng) (Catholic)

• Czech: amen (cs)
• Dutch: amen (nl)
• Finnish: totisesti (fi)
• French: amen (fr)

• German: amen (de)
• Greek: αμήν (el) (amín)
• Indonesian: amin (id)
• Italian: amen (it)
• Japanese: アーメン (ja) (āmen)
• Kazakh: әумин (äwmïn)
• Korean: 아멘 (amen)
• Malay: amin
• Polish: amen (pl)
• Portuguese: amém (pt)
• Russian: ами́нь (ru) (amínʹ)
• Scottish Gaelic: amen
• Tok Pisin: tru

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: amen
• Hebrew: ^{(please verify)} אמן‎ (he) (’amîn)
• Icelandic: ^{(please verify)} amen
• Kurdish:

  Northern Kurdish: ^{(please verify)} amîn (ku)

• Romanian: ^{(please verify)} amin (ro)

• Serbo-Croatian: ^{(please verify)} amin (sh)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: ^{(please verify)} амин

  Roman: ^{(please verify)} amin (sh) (both scripts-variant used in Bosnia and Herzegovina)

• Swedish: ^{(please verify)} amen (sv)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} amin (tr)

Interjection

amen

1. (Discuss⁽⁺⁾ this sense) An expression of strong agreement. Often, though dated, in the phrase "Amen to that".
   • 1999 May, Matt Groening, “Hell Is Other Robots”, Futurama, season 1, episode 9

     Fry: Bender's stupid religion is driving me nuts! / Leela: Amen!

Translations

expression of strong agreement

• Arabic: آمْيْن‎ (ʾāmyn)
• Aramaic:

  Classical Syriac: ܐܡܝܢ‎ (ʾāmên)

  Jewish Aramaic: אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn)

• Armenian: ամեն (hy) (amen)
• Catalan: amén (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 阿門 (zh), 阿门 (zh) (āmén)

• Dutch: amen (nl), amen en uit
• Esperanto: amen
• Finnish: aamen (fi)
• French: amen (fr)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌼𐌴𐌽 (amēn)

• Greek: αμήν (el) (amín)
• Hebrew: אמן‎ (he) (amen)
• Irish: áiméan
• Japanese: 南無三 (なむさん, namusan), アーメン (ja) (āmen)
• Kazakh: әумин (äwmïn)
• Korean: 아멘 (amen)
• Maranao: amin
• Polish: amen (pl)
• Portuguese: amém (pt)
• Spanish: amén (es)
• Tausug: amin
• Turkish: amin (tr)
• Yakan: amin
• Yiddish: אָמן‎ (omeyn)

Noun

amen (plural amens)

1. An instance of saying ‘amen’.
   • 1930, Norman Lindsay, Redheap, Sydney: Ure Smith, published 1965, page 12:

     [H]is `Amens' were ejected at the pulpit with the severity of a reprimand.

   • 2006, Evault Boswell, The Iron Mountain Baby:

     A chorus of amens rang out across the audience.

2. A title of Christ; the Faithful One (especially with reference to Revelation 3:14)
   • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], OCLC 964384981, Revelation 3:14, column 2:

     And vnto the Angel of the Church of the Laodiceans, write, Theſe things ſaith the Amen, the faithfull and true witneſſe, the beginning of the creation of God: […]

Translations

instance of saying amen

• Farefare: amina
• Moore: ãmina
• Portuguese: amém (pt) m

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Dutch: amen, beaming (nl)
• French: amen (fr) m

• Persian: آمین

Verb

amen (third-person singular simple present amens, present participle amening, simple past and past participle amened)

1. (intransitive) To say amen.
   • 1942, Emily Carr, The Book of Small, "Sunday," [1]

     The moment Dr. Reid amened, we rushed straight out of the church off home.

   • 2015, T. M. Young, Much Given, Much Required (page xxx)

     Most of the church amened and applauded.

   • 2015, Jewelle Francis, Manifest Destiny:

     She must be thinking Reverend Hopkins is talking directly to her, because she starts amening and shouting real loud when he gets to the part in Proverbs […]

2. (transitive) To say amen to; to ratify solemnly.

Translations

say amen

• Arabic: أَمَّنَ‎ (ʾammana)

• Portuguese: dizer amém, dar amém

Anagrams

• -mane, -nema, Eman, Enma, MEAN, MENA, Mena, NAmE, NEMA, NMEA, mane, mean, mnae, name, namé, neam, ñame

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Catalan

Verb

amen

1. third-person plural present indicative form of amar

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Cebuano

Etymology

From Spanish amén, from Latin āmēn, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Hebrew אמן‎ (amén, “certainly, truly”).

The gesture evolved from the custom of kissing the ecclesiastical ring of Catholic clergymen.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: a‧men

Adverb

amen

1. at the end of religious prayers: so be it

Interjection

amen

1. an expression of strong agreement

Verb

amen

1. to touch one's forehead to the back of an older person's hand as a gesture of respect
2. to hold out one's hand to someone, often a younger person, in order for them to touch it to their foreheads

Quotations

For quotations using this term, see Citations:amen.

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Chuukese

Etymology

Borrowed from English amen.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈmɛn/, /aˈbɛn/

Interjection

amen

1. amen

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Dutch

Etymology

From Middle Dutch amen, from Latin āmēn, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אמן‎ (amén, “certainly, truly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaː.mə(n)/

• Audio

  (file)

• Hyphenation: amen
• Rhymes: -aːmən

Interjection

amen

1. amen; at the end of Judeo-Christian prayers: so be it
2. amen; an expression of strong agreement

Noun

amen n (plural amens, diminutive amentje n)

1. An instance of saying ‘amen’.

Derived terms

• beamen

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Esperanto

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin āmēn, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈamen/
• Hyphenation: a‧men
• Rhymes: -amen
• Audio:

  (file)

Interjection

amen

1. amen

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French

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin amen, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /a.mɛn/
• Homophones: amène, amènent, amènes

Adverb

amen

1. amen

Noun

amen m (plural amens)

1. amen

Further reading

• “amen” in Trésor de la langue française informatisé (The Digitized Treasury of the French Language).

Anagrams

• mena

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Galician

Verb

amen

1. third-person plural present subjunctive of amar

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German

Etymology

From Latin āmēn, from Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Hebrew אמן‎.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈaːmən/, [ˈʔaː.mən], [-mn̩], [-mm̩]
• IPA^(key): /ˈaːmɛn/ (less common)

• Audio

  (file)

• Homophones: ahmen, Amen (general), armen, Armen (some speakers)

Interjection

amen

1. amen

Derived terms

• Amen n
• ja und amen sagen

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Gothic

Romanization

amēn

1. Romanization of 𐌰𐌼𐌴𐌽

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Icelandic

Adverb

amen

1. at the end of prayers: so be it

   Í guðanna bænum, amen.

   For God's sake, amen.

2. at the end of a creeds or in Biblical translations: truly, verily

Interjection

amen

1. expressing strong agreement

Anagrams

• nema

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Italian

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἀμήν (amḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”) (cognate with Arabic آمِين‎ (ʾāmīn), Classical Syriac ܐܡܝܢ‎ (ʾāmên)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.men/

Adverb

amen

1. amen; so be it
2. (colloquial) that's it; end of the story

   L'esame è andato male, pace e amen, fattene una ragione.

   The exam went bad, that's it, come to terms with it.

Interjection

amen

1. amen!

Usage notes

• Sense 2, similar to pace and va beh, is colloquial, and typically seen in the phrase pace e amen, as in the example.

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Latin

Etymology

From Koine Greek ᾱ̓μήν (āmḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”); cognate with Arabic آمِين‎ (ʾāmīn), Aramaic אַמִין‎ (ʾamīn), Classical Syriac ܐܰܡܺܝܢ‬‎ (ʾamīn).

Pronunciation

• (Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈaː.meːn/, [ˈäːmeːn]
• (Vulgar) IPA^(key): /ˈaː.men/, [ˈaːmen]
• (Ecclesiastical) IPA^(key): /ˈa.men/, [ˈɑːmɛn]

Adverb

āmēn (not comparable) (biblical, Christianity, Late Latin, Medieval Latin, Ecclesiastical Latin)

1. amen; so be it, let it be
2. amen; truly, verily

Interjection

āmēn

1. amen!

References

• amen in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• amen in Charles du Fresne du Cange’s Glossarium Mediæ et Infimæ Latinitatis (augmented edition, 1883–1887)
• amen in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré Latin-Français, Hachette, page 113
• amen in Georges, Karl Ernst; Georges (1913–1918) Ausführliches lateinisch-deutsches Handwörterbuch, Hahnsche Buchhandlung, page 375

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Middle Dutch

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin āmēn.

Interjection

āmen

1. amen, so be it

Descendants

• Dutch: amen
• Limburgish: ame

Further reading

• “amen”, in Vroegmiddelnederlands Woordenboek, 2000
• Verwijs, E.; Verdam, J. (1885–1929) , “amen”, in Middelnederlandsch Woordenboek, The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, →ISBN

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Middle English

Etymology

From Old English, from Latin āmēn.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aːˈmɛːn/, /aːˈmɛn/

Interjection

amen

1. amen

Descendants

• English: amen
  • → Tokelauan: amene
• Yola: amain

References

• “āmē̆n, interj.”, in MED Online, Ann Arbor, Mich.: University of Michigan, 2007.

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Norwegian Bokmål

Etymology

Ultimately from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”).

Interjection

amen

1. amen

Noun

amen n (definite singular amenet, indefinite plural amen or amener, definite plural amena or amenene)

1. an amen

References

• “amen” in The Bokmål Dictionary.
• “amen” in Det Norske Akademis ordbok (NAOB).

Anagrams

• emna

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Norwegian Nynorsk

Etymology

Ultimately from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn, “certainly, truly”).

Interjection

amen

1. amen

Noun

amen n (definite singular amenet, indefinite plural amen, definite plural amena)

1. an amen

References

• “amen” in The Nynorsk Dictionary.

Anagrams

• emna

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Polish

Etymology

From Ecclesiastical Latin āmēn, from Koine Greek ᾱ̓μήν (āmḗn), from Biblical Hebrew אָמֵן‎ (ʾāmēn)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈa.mɛn/

• Audio

  (file)

Interjection

amen

1. amen!

Further reading

• amen in Wielki słownik języka polskiego, Instytut Języka Polskiego PAN
• amen in Polish dictionaries at PWN

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Portuguese

Interjection

amen

1. Obsolete spelling of amém

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Spanish

Verb

amen

1. Second-person plural (ustedes) imperative form of amar.
2. Second-person plural (ustedes) present subjunctive form of amar.
3. Third-person plural (ellos, ellas, also used with ustedes^?) present subjunctive form of amar.