# ظلم
## Arabic
### Etymology 1.1

Compare Aramaic טלם.

#### Verb

ظَلَمَ • (ẓalama) I (non-past يَظْلِمُ (yaẓlimu), verbal noun ظَلْم (ẓalm) or ظُلْم (ẓulm) or مَظْلِمَة (maẓlima) or مَظْلَمَة (maẓlama) or ظِلَام (ẓilām))
* to wrong, to treat unjustly, to oppress
** 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 42:42:إِنَّمَا السَّبِيلُ عَلَى الَّذِينَ يَظْلِمُونَ النَّاسَ وَيَبْغُونَ فِي الْأَرْضِ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌʔinnamā s-sabīlu ʕalā llaḏīna yaẓlimūna an-nāsa wayabḡūna fī l-ʔarḍi biḡayri l-ḥaqqi ʔulāʔika lahum ʕaḏābun ʔalīmunIndeed, the blame lieth only upon those ones who oppress [their fellow] Man, and who are insolent throughout the earth without any right whatsoever. They are those for whom a punishment most painful [will suffice].

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 1.2
#### Verb

ظَلِمَ • (ẓalima) I (non-past يَظْلَمُ (yaẓlamu), verbal noun ظَلَم (ẓalam))
* to become dark

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 1.3
#### Verb

ظَلَّمَ • (ẓallama) II (non-past يُظَلِّمُ (yuẓallimu), verbal noun تَظْلِيم (taẓlīm))
* to be in the least unjust

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 1.4
#### Noun

ظُلْم • (ẓulm) m
* verbal noun of ظَلَمَ (ẓalama) (form I)
* wrong, wrongdoing, injustice, injuriousness, tyranny
    Synonym: جَوْر (jawr)

##### Descendants

* → Azerbaijani: zülm
* → Classical Persian: ظُلْم (zulm)
** → Chagatai:
*** Uyghur: زۇلۇم (zulum)
*** Uzbek: zulm
** → Hindustani:
    Hindi: ज़ुल्म (zulm)
    Urdu: ظُلْم (zulm)
* → Ottoman Turkish: ظلم (zulm, zulüm)
** Turkish: zulüm
** → Albanian: zullum
** → Armenian: զուլում (zulum)
** → Bulgarian: зулу́м (zulúm), золу́м (zolúm), залу́м (zalúm), золу́н (zolún)
** → Greek: ζουλούμι (zouloúmi)
** → Macedonian: зулум (zulum)
** → Romanian: zulum
** → Serbo-Croatian: zùlum / зу̀лум
* → Somali: dulmi
* → Swahili: dhuluma
* → Turkmen: zulum

### Etymology 1.5
#### Noun

ظَلْم • (ẓalm) m
* verbal noun of ظَلَمَ (ẓalama) (form I)

##### Declension
### Etymology 1.6
#### Noun

ظُلَم • (ẓulam) f pl
* plural of ظُلْمَة (ẓulma)

## Hijazi Arabic
### Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Arabic ظَلَمَ (ẓalama).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zˤa.lam/, /ðˤa.lam/

#### Verb

ظَلَم • (ẓalam) I (non-past يِظْلُم (yiẓlum))
* to wrong, to treat unjustly, to oppress

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2

From Arabic ظَلَّمَ (ẓallama).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /dˤal.lam/, /ðˤal.lam/

#### Verb

ظَلَّمْ • (ḍallam) II (non-past يِظَلِّم (yiḍallim))
* to get dark

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 3

Learned borrowing from Arabic ظُلْم (ẓulm).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zˤulm/, /ðˤulm/

#### Noun

ظلم • (ẓulm) m
* injustice, injuriousness, tyranny

## Ottoman Turkish
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ظُلْم (ẓulm).

### Noun

ظلم • (zulm or zulüm) (definite accusative ظلمی (zulümü), plural ظلملر (zulümler))
* wrongdoing, injustice, wrong, the violation of the rights of another person or people
    Synonym: جور (cevr)
* tyranny, despotism, autocracy, a government in which a single ruler has absolute power
    Synonym: جور (cevr)
* oppression, the exercise of authority or power in a burdensome, cruel, or unjust manner
    Synonym: جور (cevr)

#### Derived terms

* ظلم ایتمك (zulüm etmek, “to tyrannize”)
* ظلمكار (zulümkâr, “wrongful”)
* ظلمی (zulmî, “wrongful”)

#### Descendants

* Turkish: zulüm
* → Albanian: zullum
* → Armenian: զուլում (zulum)
* → Bulgarian: зулу́м (zulúm), золу́м (zolúm), залу́м (zalúm), золу́н (zolún)
* → Greek: ζουλούμι (zouloúmi)
* → Macedonian: зулум (zulum)
* → Romanian: zulum
* → Serbo-Croatian: zùlum / зу̀лум

### Further reading

* Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1886) “ظلم”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume II, Paris: E. Leroux, page 337
* Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962) “zulm”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎ (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 1433
* Kélékian, Diran (1911) “ظلم”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎, Constantinople: Mihran, page 831
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Injustitia”, 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 816
* Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “ظلم”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎, Vienna, column 3174
* Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “zulüm”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
* Redhouse, James W. (1890) “ظلم”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1271

## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic ظُلْم (ẓulm).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ˈzulm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [zʊ́lm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [zʊ́lm]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [zʊ́lm]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [zúlm]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [zólm]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [zúlm]

### Noun

ظلم • (zulm / zolm)
* cruelty, injustice, inhumanity
* oppression, tyranny
* (verbal noun) oppressing

#### Derived terms

* ظلم آمیز (zulm āmēz / zolm âmiz)

#### Descendants

* → Chagatai:
** Uyghur: زۇلۇم (zulum)
** Uzbek: zulm
* → Hindustani:
    Hindi: ज़ुल्म (zulm)
    Urdu: ظُلْم (zulm)

### Further reading

* Bulkin, Carleton (2012) “ظلم”, in Dari-English/English-Dari practical dictionary, 2nd edition, New York: Hippocrene Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 250
* Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “ظلم”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
* Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “ظلم”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
* “ظلم”, in قاموس کبیر افغانستان [qāmūs-i kabīr-i afğānistān, The Great Dictionary of Afghanistan] (in Persian), Afghan Dictionary, 2023

## South Levantine Arabic
### Etymology

Learned borrowing from Arabic ظَلَمَ (ẓalama).

### Pronunciation

* IPA: /zˤa.lam/, [ˈzˤɑ.lɑm]
* Audio (al-Lidd):(file)

### Verb

ظلم • (ẓalam) I (present بظلم (boẓlom), passive participle مظلوم (maẓlūm))
* to wrong, to treat unjustly
* to oppress

#### Conjugation
## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian ظُلْم (zulm), borrowed from Arabic ظُلْم (ẓulm).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /zʊlm/
* Rhymes: -ʊlm

### Noun

ظُلْم • (ẓulm) m (Hindi spelling ज़ुल्म)
* wrongdoing, misdeed, injustice
    Synonym: ناانصافی (nāinsāfī)
* tyranny, oppression
    Synonym: جبر (jabr)

#### Related terms

* ظالم (ẓālim, “tyrant; oppressor”)

### References

* “ظلم”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* “ظلم”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.