# شمع
## Arabic
### Etymology 1.1

From the root ش م ع (š m ʕ) meaning "to spread or disperse", hence melting wax.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʃamʕ/, IPA: /ʃa.maʕ/
* Audio:(file)

#### Noun

شَمْع or شَمَع • (šamʕ or šamaʕ) m (collective, singulative شَمْعَة f (šamʕa) or شَمَعَة (šamaʕa), plural شُمُوع (šumūʕ))
* wax
* candles
* a thing one lights, a torch, lantern

##### Descendants

* Maltese: xema’
* → Amharic: ሻማ (šama)
* → Aramaic:
** Classical Syriac: ܫܡܥܐ (šamʿā)
* → Azerbaijani: şam, şəm
* → Bengali: শামা (śama)
* → Ge'ez: ሠምዕ (śämʿ)
** Tigre: ሸምዕ (šämʿ)
** → Amharic: ሰም (säm)
* → Persian: شمع (šam')
** → Bashkir: шәм (şəm)
** → Karakalpak: sham
** → Kazakh: шам (şam)
** → Kyrgyz: шам (şam)
** → Urdu: شمع (śamā)
** → Uzbek: sham
* → Somali: shumac
* ⇒ Swahili: mshumaa

### Etymology 1.2

Probably denominal.

#### Verb

شَمَّعَ • (šammaʕa) II (non-past يُشَمِّعُ (yušammiʕu), verbal noun تَشْمِيع (tašmīʕ))
* to wax, to rub or smear with wax
* to make waterproof or wax-coated

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2.1

From the root ش م ع (š m ʕ) in the sense of "to disperse or go away", "to be away from work", hence "to be at leisure".

#### Verb

شَمَعَ • (šamaʕa) I (non-past يَشْمَعُ (yašmaʕu), verbal noun شَمْع (šamʕ) or شُمُوع (šumūʕ) or مَشْمَعَة (mašmaʕa))
* to play, to sport, to game
* to joke or jest
* to be mirthful, to laugh

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2.2
#### Verb

شَمَعَ • (šamaʕa) I (non-past يَشْمَعُ (yašmaʕu), verbal noun شُمُوع (šumūʕ))
* to become scattered, to become dispersed

##### Conjugation
### References

* Lane, Edward William (1863) “شمع”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎, London: Williams & Norgate, page 1598
* Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “شمع”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎, London: W.H. Allen, page 556
* Wehr, Hans (1979) “شمع”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 568

## Ottoman Turkish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شَمْع (šamʕ, “wax; candle”).

### Noun

شمع • (şemʼ)
* wax, an oily, water-resistant, semisolid substance
    Synonym: موم (mum)
* wax-candle, a candle or taper made of wax
    Synonym: موم (mum)

#### Derived terms

* شمع افروخته (şemʼ-i efrūhte, “lighted candle”)
* شمع عسل (şemʼ-i ʼasel, “beeswax”)
* شمع فلك (şemʼ-i felek, “sun”)
* شمع كافور (şemʼ-i kâfur, “candle of white wax”)
* شمع كشته (şemʼ-i küşte, “extinguished candle”)
* شمعدان (şemʼdan, “candlestick”)

#### Descendants

* Turkish: şem

### Further reading

* Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “şem2”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 4454
* Kélékian, Diran (1911) “شمع”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 734
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Cera”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎, Vienna, column 170
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “شمع”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, columns 2861–2862
* Redhouse, James W. (1890) “شمع”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1136

## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic شَمْع (šamʕ).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ˈʃamʔ]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʃǽmʔ]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʃǽmʔ]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [ʃǽm]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [ʃǽm]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [ʃǽmʔ]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [ʃǽmʔ]
** (Tehrani) IPA: [ʃǽm]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [ʃǽmʔ]
* Audio (Iran):(file)

### Noun

| Dari | شمع |
| Iranian Persian | شمع |
| Tajik | шамъ |
شمع • (šam') (plural شمع‌ها (šam'-hâ))
* candle

## South Levantine Arabic

* Root
* ش م ع
* 2 terms

### Etymology

From Arabic شَمْع (šamʕ).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʃamʕ/, [ˈʃa.m(ɪ)ʕ]
* Audio (Ramallah):(file)

### Noun

شمع • (šamʕ) m (collective, singulative شمعة f (šamʕa), paucal شمعات (šamʕāt))
* wax
* (uncountable) candles

#### See also

* شمعدان (šamʕdān, “candlestick, candleholder”)

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian شَمْع (šam'), from Arabic شَمْع (šamʕ). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi شمع (śm' /⁠śam'⁠/).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /ʃəm.ʔə/, [ʃə.mɑː]
* (colloquial) IPA: [ʃə̃m.mɑː]
* Rhymes: -ɑː

### Noun

شَمْع • (śam') f (Hindi spelling शमा) (chiefly poetic)
* candle; lamp
    Synonym: بَتّی (battī)
* (dated) candlestick
* wax
    Synonym: موم (mom)
* (religion, mysticism) the Light of God

#### Declension

Declension of شمع :
| | singular | plural |
| direct | شَمْع (śam') | شَمْعیں (śam'ẽ) |
| oblique | شَمْع (śam') | شَمْعوں (śam'õ) |
| vocative | شَمْع (śam') | شَمْعو (śam'o) |

### References

* ↑ “شمع”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* ↑ Platts, John T. (1884) “شمع”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

### Further reading

* “شمع”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024) “شمع”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]