सेमल

Hindi

सेमल का पेड़ — silk-cotton tree

सेमल का फूल — silk-cotton flower

Alternative forms

सेम्मल (semmal), सेंबल (sẽbal), सेंभल (sẽbhal)

Etymology

Inherited from Sanskrit *शैम्बल (*śaimbala), vṛddhi derivative of शिम्बल (śimbala, “silk-cotton tree”, originally, “having pods”), from शिम्ब (śimba, “pod, legume”) +‎ -ल (-la).

Cognate with Braj, Awadhi, and Bhojpuri सेमर (sēmar), Marathi शेवरी (śevrī). Doublet of सीमर (sīmar).

Pronunciation

(Delhi) IPA^(key): /seː.məl/, [seː.mɐl]
Rhymes: -əl

Noun

सेमल • (semal) m (Urdu spelling سیمل)

a silk-cotton tree (Bombax ceiba)
cotton it yields, silk-cotton, ceiba down
- 2002, Pushpita, “उघन्नी”, in गोखरू, Radhakrishna Prakashan, →ISBN, page 13:
  सिला होगा उनका मुँह—जैसे तकिया के भीतर सेमल भरकर उसका मुँह सिल दिया जाता है।
  silā hogā unkā mũh—jaise takiyā ke bhītar semal bharkar uskā mũh sil diyā jātā hai.
  Their mouth will be sewn—like how a pillow's mouth is sewed after being stuffed with silk-cotton.

Declension

Declension of *सेमल* (masc cons-stem)
	singular	plural
direct	सेमल semal	सेमल semal
oblique	सेमल semal	सेमलों semalõ
vocative	सेमल semal	सेमलो semalo

References

Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “*śaimbala”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 716
McGregor, Ronald Stuart (1993) “सेमल”, in The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary, London: Oxford University Press, page 1038