عجم

Arabic

Etymology

From the root ع ج م (ʕ-j-m). The word عَجَم (ʕajam, non-Arabs) is from a pre-Islamic form أَعْجَم (ʔaʕjam), from the root ع ج م (ʕ-j-m), referring to people who speak unclearly (thus reflecting the same semantic evolution as Ancient Greek βάρβαρος (bárbaros, barbarian)).

Noun

عَجَم (ʕajam) m (collective, singulative عَجَمِيّ m (ʕajamiyy), plural أَعْجَام (ʔaʕjām))

  1. non-Arabs (as foreigners or barbarians)
  2. (historical) Persians.
    Synonym: فُرْس (furs)

Usage notes

  • The affective value attributed to the word depends on the point of view of the user, and the historical period. For example, it had a markedly negative connotation during the Umayyad period, whereas it was often quite positive in the Abbasid period, when Iranians had much political and social influence.

Declension

Synonyms

Antonyms

Descendants

  • Gulf Arabic: عَيَم (ʕayam)
  • Azerbaijani: əcəm
  • Bengali: আজম (ajom)
  • Chagatai: عجم
    • Uyghur: ئەجەم (ejem)
    • Uzbek: ajam
  • Middle Armenian: աճամ (ačam)
  • Ottoman Turkish: عجم (Acem)
    • Turkish: Acem
    • Armenian: աճեմ (ačem), ա̈ջա̈մ (äǰäm)
  • Persian: عجم ('ajam)
  • Swahili: Uajemi

Verb

عَجَمَ (ʕajama) I, non-past يَعْجُمُ‎ (yaʕjumu)

  1. to bite, to chew
  2. to try, to test

Conjugation

Verb

عَجَّمَ (ʕajjama) II, non-past يُعَجِّمُ‎ (yuʕajjimu)

  1. to point the text, to write distinguishing marks to it

Conjugation

Noun

عَجْم (ʕajm) m

  1. verbal noun of عَجَمَ (ʕajama) (form I)

Declension

Noun

عَجَم (ʕajam) m (collective, singulative عَجَمَة f (ʕajama))

  1. stones, kernels, pits, pips, fruit seeds

Declension

References

Azerbaijani

Noun

عجم

  1. Arabic spelling of əcəm

Proper noun

عجم

  1. Arabic spelling of Əcəm

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic عَجَم (ʕajam, non-Arab, Persian).

Pronunciation

  • (Tajik) IPA(key): /ad͡ʒam/

Noun

عجم ('ajam)

  1. Persian; Iranian; Ajam

Proper noun

عجم ('ajam)

  1. Iran; Persia
    Synonym: ایران (irân)
    • c. 1010, Abū'l-Qāsim Firdawsī, شاهنامه [Shāhnāma]:
      بسی رنج بردم در این سال سی
      عجم زنده کردم بدین پارسی
      basê ranj burdam dar în sâl sî
      ajam zinda kardam bad-în pârsî
      Much toil have I borne in these thirty years,
      I have revived Persia with this Persian [work].
      (Classical Persian transliteration)
    • c. 1542, Jamālī Dihlawī, مثنوی مهر و ماه [Masnavī-yi mihr u māh]:
      ز بعد مکه سیرم در عجم بود
      ولی بی هند خاطر می نیاسود
      ze ba'd-i makka sayr-am dar ajam bûd
      walî bê hind xâtir mê nay-âsûd
      After Mecca, my journey was in Iran
      But without India, my heart found no rest.
      (Classical Persian transliteration)
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