page_title: Ajam
section_title: Etymology
hierarchical_section_title: Ajam / Etymology
caption_attribution_description: English: Illumination from a manuscript of the Shahnameh epic
context_page_description: Ajam is an Arabic word meaning mute, which today refers to someone whose mother tongue is not Arabic. During the Arab conquest of Persia, the term became a racial pejorative.
context_section_description: According to traditional etymology, the word ʿajam comes from the Semitic root aʿ-j-m. Related forms of the same root include, but are not limited to:
  mustaʿjim: mute, incapable of speech
  ʿajama /  ʾaʿjama / ʿajjama: to dot – in particular, to add the dots that distinguish between various Arabic letters to a text (and hence make it easier for a non-native Arabic speaker to read). It is now an obsolete term, since all modern Arabic texts are dotted. This may also be linked to ʿajām / ʿajam "pit, seed (e.g. of a date or grape)".
  inʿajama: (of speech) to be incomprehensible
  istaʿjama: to fall silent; to be unable to speak
   'aʿjam: non-fluent
  Homophonous words, which may or may not be derived from the same root, include:
  ʿajama: to test (a person); to try (a food).
  Modern use of "ajam" has the meaning of "non-Arab".
caption: Persian painting, depicting Jamshid halved before Zahhak
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