English
almah
Almah comes from Arabic عَالِمَة ‘singer’, and goes back to عَلِمَ ‘to know’.
- Arabicc. 500–presentعَلِمَʕalima‘to know’
- Arabic, derivedc. 500–presentعَالِمَةʕālima‘singer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1998almah
attested reconstructed ? uncertain or disputed
Lineage
- Arabicc. 500–presentعَلِمَʕalima‘to know’
- Arabic, derivedc. 500–presentعَالِمَةʕālima‘singer’
- Englishearliest quotation 1998almah
Earliest quotation: 1998, Hélène Cixous, Firstdays of the Year: “Nostalgia is almah, the Arab dancing girl. She tells…”
The story
Ultimately from Arabic عَالِمَة (ʕālima, “singer”), originally a feminine adjective meaning ‘learned, knowledgeable’, from عَلِمَ (ʕalima, “to know”).
Linked words
through Arabic عَلِمَ ‘to know’
Today it means
noun An Egyptian female singer or dancing-girl used for entertainment; sometimes a prostitute.
Language periods are conventional ranges, not dates for this word.
Etymograph / Arabic عَلِمَ / almah