# قدم
## Arabic
### Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *q-d-m (“to precede, come before”). Compare Hebrew קדם and Classical Syriac ܩܕܡ.

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qa.da.ma/

#### Verb

قَدَمَ • (qadama) I (non-past يَقْدُمُ (yaqdumu), verbal noun قَدْم (qadm) or قُدُوم (qudūm))
* (transitive) to precede

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qa.di.ma/

#### Verb

قَدِمَ • (qadima) I (non-past يَقْدَمُ (yaqdamu), verbal noun قُدُوم (qudūm) or قِدْمَان (qidmān) or مَقْدَم (maqdam))
* to return from a journey
* (transitive) to come to, arrive at, to reach
* to step up to (عَلَى (ʕalā) something)

##### References

* Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “قدم”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎, London: W.H. Allen

### Etymology 3
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qa.du.ma/

#### Verb

قَدُمَ • (qaduma) I (non-past يَقْدُمُ (yaqdumu), verbal noun قِدَم (qidam))
* to be old, to be ancient

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 4
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qad.da.ma/

#### Verb

قَدَّمَ • (qaddama) II (non-past يُقَدِّمُ (yuqaddimu), verbal noun تَقْدِيم (taqdīm))
* to introduce (someone to someone else)
* to let precede, to make precede, to send ahead, to dispatch
* to set forth beforehand, to place at the front, to place at the head
* to do earlier, to do beforehand
* to give precedence, to prefer
* to appoint as guardian
* to prepare, to get ready, to make ready
* to provide, to set aside, to earmark, to make provision
* to offer, to proffer, to tender
* to extend
* to present, to produce, to exhibit, to display
* to hand over, to deliver, to give, to hand over, to grant
    يقدِّم لنا يهوه في الكتاب المقدس إرشادات أخلاقية توجِّهنا حين نأخذ قرارات مهمة في حياتنا.In the Bible, God gives us moral guidance to guide us as we make important decisions in our lives.
* to submit, to refer, to lay before, to offer up
* to dedicate

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 5
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qa.dam/
* Audio:(file)

#### Noun

قَدَم • (qadam) f (dual قَدَمَانِ (qadamāni), plural أَقْدَام (ʔaqdām))
* foot
* foot (a measure)
* step

##### Derived terms

* كُرَة اَلْقَدَم (kurat al-qadam, “football”)

##### Descendants

* → Azerbaijani: qədəm
* → Baluchi: قدم (qadam)
* → Bengali: কদম (kodom)
* → English: kadam (via a language of India)
* → Persian: قدم (qadam)
* → Kazakh: қадам (qadam)
* → Hindi: क़दम (qadam)
* → Urdu: قدم
* → Kazakh: қадам (qadam)
* → Northern Kurdish: qedûm, qidûm, qudum, qudûm, qedem
** → Armenian: ղուդում (ġudum)
* → Nepali: कदम (kadam)
* → Ottoman Turkish: قدم (kadem)
** Turkish: kadem
** → Armenian: խատէմ (xatēm)

### Etymology 6
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qadm/

#### Noun

قَدْم • (qadm) m
* verbal noun of قَدَمَ (qadama) (form I)

##### Declension
### Etymology 7
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qi.dam/

#### Noun

قِدَم • (qidam) m
* verbal noun of قَدُمَ (qaduma) (form I)

##### Declension
### Etymology 8
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qidm/

#### Adverb

قِدْم • (qidm)
* time long past, old times

### Etymology 9
#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qu.dum/

#### Adverb

قُدُم • (qudum)
* straight ahead, forward

### References

* Wehr, Hans (1979) “قدم”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

## Baluchi
### Etymology

From Arabic قَدَم (qadam).

### Noun

قدم • (qadam)
* step

### See also

* گام (gám)

## Chadian Arabic
### Etymology

From Arabic قَدَّمَ (qaddama).

### Verb

قدم • (gaddam) II (non-past يقدم (yigaddim))
* to introduce
* to present, to expose
* to propose (to ask for a person's hand in marriage)
* to go in front, to take the lead
* to damage, to use up, to wear out

### References

* Heath, Judith, Mahadi, Mahamat Zene (2021) Lexique Arabe Tchadien-Français‎ (in French), 11th edition, N'Djamena, Chad: SIL Chad, page 49
* Pommerol, Patrice Jullien de (1999) Dictionnaire Arabe Tchadien ~ Français (in French), Éditions Karthala, →ISBN, page 476

## Hijazi Arabic
### Etymology 1

From Arabic قَدُمَ (qaduma).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡi.dim/

#### Verb

قدم • (gidim) I (non-past يِقْدَم (yigdam))
* to be old, to be ancient

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2

From Arabic قَدَّمَ (qaddama).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡad.dam/

#### Verb

قدم • (gaddam) II (non-past يِقَدِّم (yigaddim))
* to introduce (someone to someone else)
* to set forth beforehand, to place at the front, to place at the head
* to do earlier, to do beforehand
* to give precedence, to prefer
* to provide
* to offer, to proffer, to tender, to extend
* to present, to produce, to exhibit, to display
* to give, to hand over, to grant
* to submit

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 3

From Arabic قِدَم (qidam).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /ɡu.dum/

#### Noun

قدم • (gudum) m (construct state قُدْم (gudm))
* old

## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic قَدَم (qadam).

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [qa.ˈðam]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [qä.d̪ǽm]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [qä.d̪ǽm]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [qä.d̪ǽm]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [qä.d̪ǽm]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [qæ.d̪ǽm]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [qä.d̪ǽm]

### Noun

قدم • (qadam) (plural اقدام (aqdâm))
* step
    Synonym: گام (gâm)
    اولین قدم ― avvalin qadam ― the first step
    یک قدم پیش یک قدم پس (Dari)yak qadam pēš yak qadam pasone step forward, one step back
** c. 1060, Alī Hujwīrī, کشف المحجوب [Kashf al-Maḥjūb]‎:وی به حکم تواجد قدمی چند بر زمین زد. چون نگاه کردم، آن اقدام وی، چون به موم، به سنگ فرو می‌رفت. آنگاه بی هوش بیفتاد. چون به هوش آمد مرا گفت: «اندر روضهٔ بهشت بودم. تو ندیدی.»way ba hukm-i tawājud qadamē čand bar zamīn zad. čūn nigāh kardam, ān aqdām-i way čūn ba mōm⁠, ba sang furō mē-raft. āngāh bē hōš biyuftād. čūn ba hōš āmad ma-rā guft: "andar rawza-yi bihišt būdam. tu na-dīdī."In a state of rapture, he stepped a few times on the ground. When I looked, his steps were sinking into the rock as if it were wax. Then he fell unconscious. When he recovered his senses, he told me: "I was in the garden of paradise. You did not see."(Classical Persian transliteration)
* foot
    Synonym: پا (pâ)
** c. 1390, Shams-ud-Dīn Muḥammad Ḥāfiẓ, “Ghazal 216”, in دیوان حافظ [The Divān of Ḥāfiẓ]‎:آن یار کز او خانه ما جای پری بود سر تا قدمش چون پری از عیب بری بودān yār k-az ō xāna-yi mā jā-yi parī būd sar tā qadam-aš čūn parī az ayb barī būdThe beloved thanks to whom my house was the place of nymphs: From head to foot, she is—like the nymphs—unsullied by fault.(Classical Persian transliteration)
* pace (in walking, also music)
    قدم آهسته ― qadam-e âheste ― slow pace
* (figurative) the luck of someone upon arrival at a place

#### Derived terms

* بد قدم (bad qadam, “bringing bad luck”)
* بی‌قدم (bi-qadam, “bringing bad luck”)
* ثابت قدم (sâbet qadam, “steadfast”)
* قدم به قدم (qadam be qadam, “step by step”)
* قدم زدن (qadam zadan, “to walk”)

### Further reading

* Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “قدم”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
* Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “قدم”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim

## South Levantine Arabic
### Etymology 1

From Arabic قَدَّمَ (qaddama).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: (Urban) /ʔad.dam/, [ˈʔad.dam]
* IPA: (Bedouin) /ɡad.dam/, [ˈɡad.dam]
* Audio (al-Lidd):(file)

#### Verb

قدّم • (ʔaddam) II (present بقدّم (biʔaddem))
* to advance, to move forward
* to present, to offer, to provide
* to apply, to submit
    Synonym: سلّم (sallam)

##### Conjugation
### Etymology 2

Learned borrowing from Arabic قَدَم (qadam).

#### Pronunciation

* IPA: /qa.dam/, [ˈqɑ.dɑm]
* Audio (Ramallah):(file)

#### Noun

قدم • (qadam) m (plural أقدام (ʔaqdām))
* (formal) foot
    Synonyms: إجر (ʔijr), رجل (rijl)

## Urdu
### Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian قدم (qadam), from Arabic قَدَم (qadam).

#### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /qə.d̪əm/
* Audio (Pakistan):(file)
* Rhymes: -əm
* Hyphenation: قَ‧دَم

#### Noun

قَدَم • (qadam) m (formal plural اِقْدام (iqdām), Hindi spelling क़दम)
* footstep, step

##### Declension
### Etymology 2

Borrowed from Classical Persian قدم (qidam), from Arabic قِدَم (qidam).

#### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /qɪ.d̪əm/
* Rhymes: -əm
* Hyphenation: قِ‧دَم

#### Noun

قِدَم • (qidam) m (Hindi spelling क़िदम)
* antiquity, ancientness, preceding (in point of time)
* antiquity, oldness, ancientness
* perpetuity, permanence

##### Declension
### Further reading

* “قدم”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
* “قدم”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
* Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “قدم”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
* Platts, John T. (1884) “قدم”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.

## Ushojo
### Etymology

From Urdu قدم (qadam), from Arabic قَدَم (qadam).

### Noun

قدم (qadam)
* step, steps