# عام
## Arabic
### Etymology 1

Since this word competes with سَنَة (sana), عَام (ʕām) is suggested to be loaned from Old South Arabian 𐩲𐩣 (ʿm /⁠*ʿām⁠/, “year”). Compare Ge'ez ዓም (ʿam, “year”).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaːm/

#### Noun

عَام • (ʕām) m (plural أَعْوَام (ʔaʕwām))
* year
    Synonyms: سَنَة (sana), حَوْل (ḥawl)
** 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 29:14-15:وَلَقَدْ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحًا إِلَى قَوْمِهِ فَلَبِثَ فِيهِمْ أَلْفَ سَنَةٍ إِلَّا خَمْسِينَ عَامًا فَأَخَذَهُمُ ٱلطُّوفَانُ وَهُمْ ظَالِمُونَ فَأَنْجَيْنَاهُ وَأَصْحَابَ ٱلسَّفِينَةِ وَجَعَلْنَاهَا آيَةً لِلْعَالَمِينَwa-laqad ʔarsalnā nūḥan ʔilā qawmihi fa-labiṯa fīhim ʔalfa sanatin ʔillā ḵamsīna ʕāman fa-ʔaḵaḏahumu ṭ-ṭūfānu wahum ẓālimūna fa-ʔanjaynāhu wa-ʔaṣḥāba s-safīnati wa-jaʕalnāhā ʔāyatan li-l-ʕālamīnaAnd We certainly sent Noah to his people, and he remained among them nine hundred and fifty years, and the flood seized them while they were wrongdoers. But We saved him and the companions of the ship, and We made it a sign for the worlds.
* a period of twelve lunar months; lunar year

##### Descendants

* → Azerbaijani: am
* → Persian: عام ('âm)

### Etymology 2

Derived from the active participle of عَمَّ (ʕamma, “to be general, to be common, to prevail”) (cognate to Hebrew עַם (am, “nation”) and עֲמָמִי ('amamí, “public”)). Contamination from Parthian 𐫍𐫀𐫖 (hʾm /⁠hām-⁠/, “same”) or its Middle Iranian analogues such as engendering Old Armenian համ- (ham-, “same, homo-; whole, pan-”) is considered.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaːmm/

#### Adjective

عَامّ • (ʕāmm) (feminine عَامَّة (ʕāmma), elative أَعَمّ (ʔaʕamm))
* public
* prevalent, universal
* general
** 2019 April 9, “نسبة التصويت 62%..العرب يسجلون نسبة منخفضة [Voter turnout is 62%... Arabs register a lower turnout.]”, in Maan News‎:بلغت نسبة التصويت العامة في إسرائيل حتى الساعة الثامنة 62% وهي اقل 2.6% عن عام 2015.Voter turnout for the general population of Israel as of 8:00 reached 62%, which is 2.6% less than in the year 2015.
* common, ordinary

##### Descendants

* → Azerbaijani: amm
* → Persian: عامّ ('âmm)

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaː.ma/

#### Verb

عَامَ • (ʕāma) I (non-past يَعُومُ (yaʕūmu), verbal noun عَوْم (ʕawm))
* to float
    Synonym: طَفَا (ṭafā)
* to swim
    Synonym: سَبَحَ (sabaḥa)

##### Conjugation
### References

* Lane, Edward William (1863) “عوم”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎, London: Williams & Norgate, page 2202b
* Shapira, Dan D. Y. (2009) “Irano-Arabica: contamination and popular etymology. Notes on the Persian and Arabic lexicons (with references to Aramaic, Hebrew and Turkic)”, in Христианский Восток – Новая Серия, volume 5 (XI), Moscow: Издательство Российской Академии Наук и Государственного Эрмитажа, page 174, claims contamination from a Parthian **hām (“winter; year”), a word he seemingly made up, since no descendant of Proto-Iranian *jimáh (“winter”) could come close.
* Wehr, Hans (1979) “عم, عوم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, pages 751, 771
* Weninger, Stefan (2009) “Der Jemen als lexikalisches Ausstrahlungszentrum in der Antike”, in Philologisches und Historisches zwischen Anatolien und Sokotra. Analecta Semitica in memoriam Alexander Sima‎ (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrasowitz, →ISBN, page 399 Nr. 1

## Moroccan Arabic
### Etymology 1

From Arabic عَام (ʕām).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaːm/

#### Noun

عام • (ʕām) m (dual عامين (ʕāmayn), plural أعوام (ʔaʕwām))
* year
    Synonym: سنة (sana)

### Etymology 2

From Arabic عَامَ (ʕāma).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaːm/

#### Verb

عام • (ʕām) I (non-past يعوم (yʕūm))
* (intransitive) to swim

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 3

From Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ʕaːmː/

#### Adjective

عام • (ʕāmm) (feminine عامة (ʕāmma), masculine plural عامين (ʕāmmīn), feminine plural عامات (ʕāmmāt), elative أعم (ʔaʕamm))
* public
* prevalent, universal
* general
* common, ordinary

## Persian
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Arabic عَام (ʕām).

#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ʔɑːm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʔɑːm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʔɑːm]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [ʔɑːm]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [ʔɔːm]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [ʔɒːm]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [ʔɔm]

#### Noun

عام • ('âm) (plural اعوام (a'vâm))
* year
    Synonyms: سال (sâl), سنه (sane)

### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

#### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ʔɑːmm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʔɑːm(ː)]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [ʔɑːm(ː)]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [ʔɑːm(ː)]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [ʔɔːm(ː)]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [ʔɒːm(ː)]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [ʔɔm(ː)]

#### Adjective

عامّ • (âmm) (plural عوام)
* common
* general

##### Alternative forms

* عامه (âmme) (from Arabic feminine)

### Further reading

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

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian عامّ ('āmm), Arabic عَامّ (ʕāmm).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /ɑːm/
** (phonetic) IPA: [ʕä̃ːm]
* Rhymes: -ɑːm
* Homophone: آم (ām)

### Adjective

عام • ('ām) (Hindi spelling आम)
* common
* ordinary
* general
* universal

#### Derived terms

* عام طَور پَر ('ām taur par, “generally”)

### Further reading

* “عام”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* “عام”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “عام”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.