sam

See also: Appendix:Variations of "sam"

Languages (27)

Translingual • English

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Atong (India) • Charrua • Chuukese • Garo • Hokkien • Lhao Vo • Macanese • Maltese • Mizo • Nga La • Old English • Old Irish • Old Norse • Old Polish • Phalura • Polish • Rohingya • Romani • Serbo-Croatian • Silesian • Slovene • Swedish • Vietnamese • Ye'kwana • Zhuang

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Page categories

Translingual

Symbol

sam

1. (international standards) ISO 639-2 & ISO 639-3 language code for Samaritan Aramaic.

See also

• Wiktionary’s coverage of Samaritan Aramaic terms

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English sammen, samnen, from Old English samnian, ġesamnian (“to collect, assemble, bring together, gather, join, unite, compose, meet, glean”), from Proto-West Germanic *samnōn, from Proto-Germanic *samnōną (“to gather”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one”). Cognate with Dutch zamelen (“to collect”), German sammeln (“to collect, gather”), Swedish samla (“to gather, collect”), Icelandic samna (“to gather, collect”). More at same.

Alternative forms

• samen

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæm/
• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: Sam (Received Pronunciation, US)

Verb

sam (third-person singular simple present sams, present participle samming, simple past and past participle sammed)

1. (transitive, UK dialectal) To assemble.
2. (transitive, UK dialectal, of persons) To bring together; join (in marriage, friendship, love, etc.).
3. (transitive, UK dialectal, of things) To bring together; collect; put in order; arrange.
   • 1905, Keighley Snowden, Princess Joyce:

     I sammed it up for ye

4. (intransitive, UK dialectal) To assemble; come together.
5. (transitive, UK dialectal) To coagulate; curdle (milk).

Usage notes

• Often used with together or up

Derived terms

• stand sam
• upon my sam

Etymology 2

From Middle English sām (“together”), from Old English samen (“together”), from Proto-West Germanic *saman, from Proto-Germanic *samanai (“together”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“together, one”).

Adverb

sam (not comparable)

1. (obsolete) Together
   • 1590, Edmund Spenser, “(please specify the book)”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC:

     Now are they saints all in that city sam.

   • a. 1600, The Battle of Floddon Field‎:

     All Sam the souldiers then replied.

Etymology 3

From Middle English sam- (prefix), from Old English sam-, from Proto-Germanic *sēmi- (“half”), from Proto-Indo-European *sēmi- (“half”). Related to semi- (via Latin).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæm/
• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: Sam (Received Pronunciation, US)

Adjective

sam (not comparable)

1. (dialectal) Half or imperfectly done.
2. (of food) Half-heated.

Related terms

• sammy
• sandblind

Etymology 4

Possibly from Uncle Sam.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sæm/
• Rhymes: -æm
• Homophone: Sam (Received Pronunciation, US)

Noun

sam (plural sams)

1. (slang) Federal narcotics agent.

Anagrams

• 'ams, Mas, mas, MSA, -mas, ASM, AMS, M.A.S., MAs, sma, M.A.s, SMA, M. A. S., MAS, A.M.s, asm

Atong (India)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sʰam/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bodo-Garo *sam¹ (“grass”). Related to Garo samsi, Garo sam.

Noun

sam (Bengali script সাম)

1. grass; weed
2. medicine

Derived terms

• sambarat
• samchak
• samkong
• samphat
• samsai
• samsi

Etymology 2

Verb

sam- (Bengali script সাম)

1. to wait

Etymology 3

Classifier

sam- (Bengali script সাম)

1. used with any bilateral body part, hands, eyes, etc. and also tires

References

• van Breugel, Seino. 2015. Atong-English dictionary, second edition. Available online: https://www.academia.edu/487044/Atong_English_Dictionary.

Charrua

Numeral

sam

1. two

References

• El último charrúa: de Salsipuedes a la actualidad (1996)
• Idioma español y habla criolla: Charrúas y vilelas (1968)
• Čestmír Loukotka, ‎Johannes Wilbert (editor), Classification of South American Indian Languages (1968, Los Angeles: Latin American Studies Center, University of California), page(s) 62

Chuukese

Noun

sam

1. father

Garo

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sam/

Etymology 1

From Proto-Bodo-Garo *sam¹ (“grass”). Related to Atong (India) sam.

Noun

sam

1. grass; herb
2. medicine
3. curry

Etymology 2

Classifier

sam

1. used with any bilateral body part, hands, eyes, etc.

Further reading

• Burling, R. (2003) The Language of the Modhupur Mandi (Garo) Vol. II: The Lexicon‎, Bangladesh: University of Michigan, page 275

Hokkien

For pronunciation and definitions of sam – see 三 (“three; the other woman; the other man; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 三).

For pronunciation and definitions of sam – see 衫 (“unlined garment; shirt; top; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 衫).

For pronunciation and definitions of sam – see 舢. (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 舢).

For pronunciation and definitions of sam – see 參 (“Three Stars mansion; etc.”). (This term is the pe̍h-ōe-jī form of 參).

Lhao Vo

Etymology

From Proto-Sino-Tibetan *g-sum (“three”). Cognate with Burmese သုံး (sum:, “three”).

Numeral

sam

1. three

References

• Dr. Ola Hanson, A Dictionary of the Kachin Language (1906).

Macanese

Verb

sam

1. Alternative form of sâm

Maltese

Root
s-w-m
3 terms

Etymology

From Arabic صامَ (ṣāma).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saːm/

Verb

sam (imperfect jsum, active participle sajjem, verbal noun sawm)

1. to fast

Conjugation

Conjugation of sam

positive forms
		singular			plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person	1st person	2nd person	3rd person
perfect	m	somt	somt	sam	somna	somtu	samu
	f			samet
imperfect	m	nsum	ssum	jsum	nsumu	ssumu	jsumu
	f			ssum
imperative			sum			sumu

Mizo

Etymology 1

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *sham, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(t)sam.

Noun

sam

1. hair (of the head)
2. antenna (of insects)

Etymology 2

Adjective

sam

1. easy, simple

Nga La

Etymology

From Proto-Kuki-Chin *sham, from Proto-Sino-Tibetan *(t)sam.

Noun

sam

1. hair (of the head)

References

• Matu (Chin) Dictionary by Ropna Saruum, Matupi 2007

Old English

Conjunction

sam

1. whether, or

References

• Joseph Bosworth, T. Northcote Toller (1898) “sam”, in An Anglo-Saxon Dictionary, second edition, Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Old Irish

Etymology

From Proto-Celtic *samos (“summer”) (compare Welsh haf), from Proto-Indo-European *sm̥-h₂-ó- (compare Old English sumor, Old Armenian ամառն (amaṙn)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [saβ̃]

Noun

sam m (genitive unattested, no plural)

1. summer

Inflection

Masculine o-stem

	singular	dual	plural
nominative	sam	—	—
vocative	saim	—	—
accusative	samN	—	—
genitive	saimL	—	—
dative	samL	—	—

Initial mutations of a following adjective:

• ^H = triggers aspiration
• ^L = triggers lenition
• ^N = triggers nasalization

Synonyms

• samrad

Mutation

Mutation of sam

radical	lenition	nasalization
sam	ṡam	unchanged

Note: Certain mutated forms of some words can never occur in Old Irish.
All possible mutated forms are displayed for convenience.

Further reading

• Gregory Toner, Sharon Arbuthnot, Máire Ní Mhaonaigh, Marie-Luise Theuerkauf, Dagmar Wodtko, editors (2019), “1 sam”, in eDIL: Electronic Dictionary of the Irish Language

Old Norse

Verb

sam

1. second-person singular imperative of sama

Old Polish

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *sem-

Proto-Indo-European *somh₁ós

Proto-Slavic *samъ

Old Polish sam

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *samъ. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /saːm/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /sɒm/

Pronoun

sam

1. alone, by oneself, without company
2. myself, yourself, himself, etc. (emphatic determiner, used similarly to "no other than" or "the very", as in "I myself")
3. The meaning of this term is uncertain.

Descendants

• Polish: sam
• Silesian: sōm

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *ḱe

Proto-Indo-European *ís

Proto-Indo-European *ḱís

Proto-Balto-Slavic *śis

Proto-Slavic *sь

Proto-Slavic *-mo

Proto-Slavic *sěmo

Old Polish sam

Inherited from Proto-Slavic *sěmo. First attested in the 14th century.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (10^th–15^th CE) /sam/
• IPA^(key): (15^th CE) /sam/

Adverb

sam

1. here; hither

Descendants

• Polish: siam
• Silesian: sam

References

• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “1. sam”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN
• B. Sieradzka-Baziur, Ewa Deptuchowa, Joanna Duska, Mariusz Frodyma, Beata Hejmo, Dorota Janeczko, Katarzyna Jasińska, Krystyna Kajtoch, Joanna Kozioł, Marian Kucała, Dorota Mika, Gabriela Niemiec, Urszula Poprawska, Elżbieta Supranowicz, Ludwika Szelachowska-Winiarzowa, Zofia Wanicowa, Piotr Szpor, Bartłomiej Borek, editors (2011–2015), “2. sam”, in Słownik pojęciowy języka staropolskiego [Conceptual Dictionary of Old Polish] (in Polish), Kraków: IJP PAN, →ISBN

Phalura

Etymology

(This etymology is missing or incomplete. Please add to it, or discuss it at the Etymology scriptorium.)

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /sam/

Adverb

sam (Perso-Arabic spelling سم)

1. equally

References

• Henrik Liljegren, Naseem Haider (2011) “sam”, in Palula Vocabulary (FLI Language and Culture Series; 7)‎, Islamabad, Pakistan: Forum for Language Initiatives, →ISBN