# ḏbꜥ
## Egyptian
### Etymology 1
#### Pronunciation

* (reconstructed) IPA: /cʼaˈbaʕ/ → /tʼaˈbaʕ/ → /tʼəˈbaʕ/ → /tʼəˈβaʕ/
* (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /cʼaˈbaʕ/
* (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /tʼaˈbaʕ/
* (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /tʼəˈbaʕ/
* (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /tʼəˈβaʕ/
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /d͡ʒɛbɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: djeba

#### Numeral

* ten thousand

##### Descendants

* Akhmimic Coptic: ⲧⲃⲁ (tba)
* Bohairic Coptic: ⲑⲃⲁ (thba)
* Fayyumic Coptic: ⲧⲃⲉ (tbe)
* Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲧⲃⲁ (tba)
* Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲃⲁ (tba)

### Etymology 2

Compare with Arabic إصبع (ʔiṣbaʕ, “finger”) and Mina dzəbuŋ (“five”).

#### Pronunciation

* (reconstructed) IPA: /ˈcʼuːbaʕ/ → /ˈtʼuːbaʕ/ → /ˈtʼuːbəʕ/ → /ˈtʼeːβəʕ/
* (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ˈcʼuːbaʕ/
* (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼuːbaʕ/
* (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼuːbəʕ/
* (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼeːβəʕ/
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /d͡ʒɛbɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: djeba

#### Noun

m
* (anatomy) finger (inclusive of the thumb) [since the Pyramid Texts]
* (anatomy, Late Egyptian) digit: a finger, thumb, or toe
* (units of measure) digit: a measure of length equal to $^1$⁄$_{28}$ cubit (about 1.88 cm). [since the Old Kingdom]
* small quantity (of a substance such as fat or honey), the amount that can be scooped up by a fingertip [Medical Papyri]

##### Usage notes

The dual form of this word is commonly used with plural meaning. Furthermore, in the 19th and 20th Dynasties the dual form of the suffix pronoun .fj is often found with this word, even when the word itself is in plural form.

##### Alternative forms

| ḏbꜥ | ḏbꜥ | ḏbꜥ |
| [Old Kingdom and Late Period] | [chiefly since the Middle Kingdom] | [chiefly since the New Kingdom] |
| | | in hieratic |

##### Derived terms

* jr ḏbꜥwj (“next to, at one’s side”)
* ḏbꜥwt (“signet”)

##### Descendants

* Akhmimic Coptic: ϯⲉⲓⲃⲉ (tieibe)
* Bohairic Coptic: ⲧⲏⲃ (tēb)
* Fayyumic Coptic: ⲧⲉⲉⲃⲉ (teebe)
* Lycopolitan Coptic: ⲧⲏⲃⲉ (tēbe)
* Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲏⲏⲃⲉ (tēēbe)

#### Verb

3-lit.
* (intransitive, with m) to point one’s finger at, especially in reproach or objection [Middle Kingdom]
** c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.4–1.5: ꜣt pw ktt dꜣjr jb ḫw(w) pw ꜣfꜥ jw ḏbꜥ.t(w) jmControlling oneself (lit. Subduing the heart) is a little moment; gluttony is something to be precluded, as it is pointed to in reproach.
* (transitive, with the heart as object) to rebuke (one’s heart) [Book of the Dead]
* (intransitive) to adulate, to pay homage (+ n: to) [Greco-Roman Period]

##### Alternative forms

ḏbꜥ :
[Greco-Roman Period] :

##### Derived terms

* ḏbꜥw (“reproach, rebuke”)

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* (reconstructed) IPA: /ˈcʼaːbaʕ/ → /ˈtʼaːbaʕ/ → /ˈtʼaːbəʕ/ → /ˈtʼoːβəʕ/
* (Old Egyptian, c. 2500 BCE) IPA: /ˈcʼaːbaʕ/
* (Middle Egyptian, c. 1700 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼaːbaʕ/
* (Amarna-period Late Egyptian, c. 1350 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼaːbəʕ/
* (latest Late Egyptian, c. 800 BCE) IPA: /ˈtʼoːβəʕ/
* (modern Egyptological) IPA: /d͡ʒɛbɑː/
** Conventional anglicization: djeba

#### Verb

3-lit.
* (transitive) to seal up (wine, grain, etc.)
* (transitive) to seal, to place a seal upon (+ m or (rarely) + ḥr: to seal with)

##### Alternative forms

ḏbꜥ :
[Late Period] :

##### Descendants

* Akhmimic Coptic: ⲧⲟⲩⲃⲉ (toube)
* Bohairic Coptic: ⲧⲱⲃ (tōb), ⲧⲱⲃⲓ (tōbi)
* Sahidic Coptic: ⲧⲱⲱⲃⲉ (tōōbe)

### References

* “ḏbꜥ (lemma ID 183450)”, “ḏbꜥ (lemma ID 183430)”, “ḏbꜥ (lemma ID 183480)”, “ḏbꜥ (lemma ID 183470)”, and “ḏbꜥ (lemma ID 183460)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎, Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
* Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1931) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎, volume 5, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 562.11–566.4, 566.12–567.3
* Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 321
* James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 101–102, 105.
* Vycichl, Werner (1983) Dictionnaire Étymologique de la Langue Copte, Leuven: Peeters, →ISBN, page 211
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 42, 46, 71
* ↑ Compare Peust’s rendering ˈḏubꜥV, using different assumptions about Egyptian syllable structure: Peust, Carsten (1999) Egyptian Phonology: An Introduction to the Phonology of a Dead Language‎, Göttingen: Peust und Gutschmidt Verlag GbR, page 104
* ↑ Loprieno, Antonio (1995) Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, page 44