שמאל
See also: שמאָל
Hebrew
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *šimaʔl. Cognate with Arabic شِمَال (šimāl), Akkadian 𒆏 (šumēlum), Aramaic סְמָלָא (səmālā), שְׂמָאלָא (śəmālā), ܣܸܡܵܠܵܐ (semmālā), Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎀𐎍 (šmảl). The north sense derives from the direction being on the left side facing the sunrise, this sense also exists in Arabic.
Noun
שְׂמֹאל • (s'mól) m
- Left: the left side.
- Antonym: יָמִין (yamín)
- בצד שמאל ― b'tsád s'mól ― on the left side
- יד שמאל ― yád s'mól ― left hand
- (politics) The Left, the political left.
- Antonym: יָמִין (yamín)
- מפלגת שמאל ― mifléget s'mól ― a left-wing party
- (Biblical Hebrew) North.
- Synonym: צָפֹון (tsafón)
- Antonyms: יָמִין (yamín), דָּרוֹם (daróm), נֶגֶב (négev), תֵּימָן (teimán)
- Genesis 14:15, with translation of the New International Version:
- וַיֵּחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם לַיְלָה הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו וַיַּכֵּם וַֽיִּרְדְּפֵם עַד־חֹובָה אֲשֶׁר מִשְּׂמֹאל לְדַמָּֽשֶׂק׃
- During the night Abram divided his men to attack them and he routed them, pursuing them as far as Hobah, north of Damascus.
Declension
Declension of שְׂמֹאל
| Number | Isolated forms | With possessive pronouns | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| State | Form | Person | singular | plural | |||
| m. | f. | m. | f. | ||||
| singular | indefinite | שְׂמֹאל | first | שְׂמֹאלִי | שְׂמֹאלֵנוּ | ||
| definite | הַשְּׂמֹאל | second | שְׂמֹאלְךָ | שְׂמֹאלֵךְ | שְׂמֹאלְכֶם | שְׂמֹאלְכֶן | |
| construct | שְׂמֹאל־ | third | שְׂמֹאלוֹ | שְׂמֹאלָהּ | שְׂמֹאלָם | שְׂמֹאלָן | |
Derived terms
- שְׂמֹאלָה (s'móla, “leftward, to the left”)
- שְׂמָאלוּת (smalút, “left-handedness”)
- שְׂמָאלִי (s'malí, “lefty”)
- שְׂמָאלִיּוּת (smaliyút, “leftism”)
- שׂמאֹלָן (smolán, “a leftist”)
- שְׂמֹאלָנוּת (smolanút, “leftism”)
- שְׂמֹאלָנִי (smolaní, “leftist”)
References
- H8040 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
Yiddish
Adjective
שמאל • (shmol)
- (nonstandard) Unpointed form of שמאָל (shmol).