Etymology

mem

M3E1M3

Today it means: The thirteenth letter of many Semitic alphabets/abjads (Phoenician, Aramaic, Hebrew, Syriac, Arabic and others). Full definition →

Phoenician 𐤌𐤌 ← Proto-Semitic *maʾ-
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mem · noun1

  1. Proto-Semitic · derived from*maʾ-“*maʾ-/*may-”
  2. Phoenician · derived from𐤌𐤌“water”
  3. English todaymem

From Phoenician 𐤌𐤌 (mm /⁠mem⁠/, “water”), from Proto-Semitic *maʾ- (“*maʾ-/*may-”). Doublet of mu.

mem · noun2

Clipping of memory.

mem · noun3

  1. English · derived fromma'am
  2. Hindi · borrowed fromमेम“wife of a colonial official; a white woman”
  3. English todaymem

From Hindi मेम (mem, “wife of a colonial official; a white woman”), originally from English ma'am.

Words from the same roots

Phoenician𐤌𐤌 all →

mu

Englishma'am all →

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.