שמאל
See also: שמאָל
Hebrew
Alternative forms
- (politics): סמוֹל (satiric misspelling)
Etymology
From Proto-Semitic *śimaʔl-. 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.
Pronunciation
- (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA(key): /ˈsmol/
Audio (Modern Israeli Hebrew): (file)
- (Sephardi Hebrew) IPA(key): /seˈmol/
- Rhymes: (Modern, Sephardi) -ol
Noun
שְׂמֹאל • (s'mól) m
- left (the left side or direction)
- 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.
- Tanach, Genesis 14:15, with translation of the New International Version:
- וַיֵּחָלֵק עֲלֵיהֶם לַיְלָה הוּא וַעֲבָדָיו וַיַּכֵּם וַֽיִּרְדְּפֵם עַד־חוֹבָה 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
| isolated forms | with possessive pronouns | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number: | 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”)
- שׂמֹאלָן (smolán, “a leftist”)
- שְׂמֹאלָנוּת (smolanút, “leftism”)
- שְׂמֹאלָנִי (smolaní, “leftist”)
References
Yiddish
Adjective
שמאל • (shmol)
- (nonstandard) Unpointed form of שמאָל (shmol).