حلم

Akin to Aramaic חֶלְמָא (ḥelmā), Classical Syriac ܚܠܡܐ (ḥelmā), Hebrew חֲלוֹם (ḥalóm), Amharic ሕልም (ḥəlm), Ugaritic 𐎈𐎍𐎎 (ḥlm). For the significations of the root in Arabic, compare م ن ي (m n y), whence أُمْنِيَة (ʔumniya, “a wish”) and مَنِيّ (maniyy, “a fluid considered conceptive; semen”).

• IPA^(key): /ħulm/, /ħu.lum/

حَلَمَ • (ḥalama) I (non-past يَحْلُمُ (yaḥlumu), verbal noun حُلْم (ḥulm) or حُلُم (ḥulum))

1. (intransitive, transitive) to dream (something) or about [with بِ (bi)] (something) while asleep

   Synonyms: اِحْتَلَمَ (iḥtalama), رَأَى (raʔā)

   1. (intransitive, transitive) to muse, reflect, or meditate on [with بِ (bi)]; to vision, to image

      Synonyms: تَخَيَّلَ (taḵayyala), تَصَوَّرَ (taṣawwara)

2. (intransitive) to experience the first seminal ejaculation

   Synonym: اِحْتَلَمَ (iḥtalama)

   1. (intransitive, chiefly of males) to mature physically or sexually; to attain puberty

      Synonym: بَلَغَ (balaḡa)

   2. (intransitive, law, chiefly of males, archaic) to become a legal adult or to be perceived as such

      Synonyms: بَلَغَ (balaḡa), أَدْرَكَ (ʔadraka), رَشَدَ (rašada), عَقَلَ (ʕaqala), مَيَّزَ (mayyaza)

حَلُمَ • (ḥaluma) I (non-past يَحْلُمُ (yaḥlumu), verbal noun حِلْم (ḥilm))

1. (intransitive, approving) to mature mentally or to be perceived as such; to act or think like an adult
2. (intransitive, approving) to be gentle, forgiving, merciful, or lenient; to be mild-mannered
3. (intransitive, approving) to restrain oneself or to be restrained or checked (especially emotionally and psychologically); to forbear, to refrain, to abstain, to withhold; to be long-suffering, to be patient or enduring; to mellow

حُلْم or حُلُم • (ḥulm or ḥulum) m (plural أَحْلَام (ʔaḥlām))

1. verbal noun of حَلَمَ (ḥalama) (form I): dreaming
2. a dream (something experienced during sleep); vision

   Synonyms: رُؤْيَا (ruʔyā), مَنَام (manām)

   Hyponym: كَابُوس (kābūs, “nightmare”)

3. a wish, a desire, an aspiration; a daydream (something fantasised about or desired)

   Synonyms: مُنْيَة (munya), بُغْيَة (buḡya)

4. utopia

• أَضْغَاثُ أَحْلَامٍ pl (ʔaḍḡāṯu ʔaḥlāmin, “convolutions of dreams”)

حُلُم or حُلْم • (ḥulum or ḥulm) m

1. verbal noun of حَلَمَ (ḥalama) (form I)
2. sexual maturity; puberty
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 24:59:

     وَإِذَا بَلَغَ ٱلْأَطْفَالُ مِنْكُمُ ٱلْحُلُمَ فَلْيَسْتَأْذِنُوا كَمَا ٱسْتَأْذَنَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِنْ قَبْلِهِمْ

     waʔiḏā balaḡa l-ʔaṭfālu minkumu l-ḥuluma falyastaʔḏinū kamā staʔḏana llaḏīna min qablihim

     And if the children among you reach puberty, they shall ask for permission as those who did before them.

حِلْم • (ḥilm) m (plural حُلُوم (ḥulūm) or أَحْلَام (ʔaḥlām))

1. verbal noun of حَلُمَ (ḥaluma) (form I)
2. (approving) mental, psychological, or comportmental maturity; prudence; rationality; discretion

   Synonyms: عَقْل (ʕaql), حِكْمَة (ḥikma)

3. (approving) being long-suffering, self-restraint; forbearance, longanimity

   أَنْتَ أَكْثَرُ مِنِّي حِلْمًا.

   ʔanta ʔakṯaru minnī ḥilman.

   You are more patient than me.

   لَا يَغُرَّنَّكَ حِلْمِي فَصَبْرِي بَدَأَ يَنْفَدُ.

   lā yaḡurrannaka ḥilmī faṣabrī badaʔa yanfadu.

   Let not my forbearance deceive you, for my patience is running out.

   • Al-Shafi'i

     يُخَاطِبُنِي السَّفِيهُ بِكُلِّ قُبْحٍ / فَأَكْرَهُ أَنْ أَكُونَ لَهُ مُجِيبًا
     يَزِيدُ سَفَاهَةً فَأَزِيدُ حِلْمًا / كَعُودٍ زَادَهُ الْإِحْرَاقُ طِيبًا

     yuḵāṭibuni s-safīhu bikulli qubḥin / faʔakrahu ʔan ʔakūna lahū mujīban
     yazīdu safāhatan faʔazīdu ḥilman / kaʕūdin zādahu l-ʔiḥrāqu ṭīban

     The fool would spew a lot of ugliness and filth, / And I should hate to be the one who answers him. / He grows more foolish; I grow more and more restrained, / Like incense burning with increasing fragrances.

حَلَم • (ḥalam) m (collective, singulative حَلَمَة f (ḥalama))

1. tick(s), mite(s)
2. (anatomy) nipple(s), teat(s)
3. callous-leaved gromwell (Moltkiopsis ciliata)

• حَلَمِيّ (ḥalamiyy)
• حُلَيْمَة (ḥulayma)
  • حُلَيْمِيّ (ḥulaymiyy)

Borrowed from Arabic حِلْم (ḥilm).

حلم • (helm) (plural حلوم (holum))

1. meekness, mildness
2. submissiveness, docility
3. forbearance, mansuetude
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 3794:

     که نیم کوهم ز حلم و صبر و داد
     کوه را کی در رباید تند باد

     kah niyam kōh-am za hilm u sabr u dād
     kōh rā kay dar rubāyad tund bād

     I am not a straw, I am a mountain of forbearance and patience and justice:
     how should the fierce wind carry off the mountain?”

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “حلم”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

From Arabic حَلَمَ (ḥalama).

• IPA^(key): /ħi.lim/, [ˈħi.lɪm]

• Audio (al-Lidd):

  (file)

حلم • (ḥilim) I (present بحلم (biḥlam))

1. to dream

From Arabic حُلْم (ḥulm).

• IPA^(key): /ħulm/, [ˈħʊ.l(ʊ)m]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

حلم • (ḥilm, ḥulm) m (plural أحلام (ʔaḥlām))

1. dream

From Arabic حُلْم (ḥulm).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɦʊlm/

حُلْم • (hulm) m (formal plural احلام, Hindi spelling हुल्म)

1. dream, imagination

Borrowed from Classical Persian حِلْم (hilm)

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɦɪlm/

حِلْم • (hilm) m (Hindi spelling हिल्म)

1. forbearance, toleration, patience

• “حلم”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “حلم”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.