شيطان

See also: شیطان

Arabic

Etymology

The formation can be understood as an extension to the root ش ي ط (š-y-ṭ) meaning “to singe” by the the ـَان (-ān) suffix, however Ge'ez ሠይጣን (śäyṭan), ሰይጣን (säyṭan) has to be explained. The assumption of it being borrowed from Arabic would only be tenable if Judaism or Christianity were earlier in Yemen than in Ethiopia, and the meaning shows a specialization from Hebrew שָׂטָן (śāṭān) and Classical Syriac ܣܛܢܐ (sāṭānā) over Ge'ez to Arabic. It has a more general meaning “adversary” in Hebrew and Syriac, where Ethiopic has it only as a side meaning, and Arabic has it just for “Satan” and has even generalized the usage in the other direction to denote all kinds of demonic beings.

Pronunciation

• (deprecated use of |lang= parameter)

Noun

شَيْطَان • (šayṭān) m (plural شَيَاطِين (šayāṭīn))

1. (religion) Satan, devil
2. demon, fiend

Declension

Declension of noun شَيْطَان (šayṭān)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيْطَان šayṭān	الشَّيْطَان aš-šayṭān	شَيْطَان šayṭān
Nominative	شَيْطَانٌ šayṭānun	الشَّيْطَانُ aš-šayṭānu	شَيْطَانُ šayṭānu
Accusative	شَيْطَانًا šayṭānan	الشَّيْطَانَ aš-šayṭāna	شَيْطَانَ šayṭāna
Genitive	شَيْطَانٍ šayṭānin	الشَّيْطَانِ aš-šayṭāni	شَيْطَانِ šayṭāni
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيْطَانَيْن šayṭānayn	الشَّيْطَانَيْن aš-šayṭānayn	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Nominative	شَيْطَانَانِ šayṭānāni	الشَّيْطَانَانِ aš-šayṭānāni	شَيْطَانَا šayṭānā
Accusative	شَيْطَانَيْنِ šayṭānayni	الشَّيْطَانَيْنِ aš-šayṭānayni	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Genitive	شَيْطَانَيْنِ šayṭānayni	الشَّيْطَانَيْنِ aš-šayṭānayni	شَيْطَانَيْ šayṭānay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	شَيَاطِين šayāṭīn	الشَّيَاطِين aš-šayāṭīn	شَيَاطِين šayāṭīn
Nominative	شَيَاطِينُ šayāṭīnu	الشَّيَاطِينُ aš-šayāṭīnu	شَيَاطِينُ šayāṭīnu
Accusative	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna	الشَّيَاطِينَ aš-šayāṭīna	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna
Genitive	شَيَاطِينَ šayāṭīna	الشَّيَاطِينِ aš-šayāṭīni	شَيَاطِينِ šayāṭīni

Descendants

• English: shaitan
• Bashkir: шайтан (şaytan)
• Indonesian: setan
• Ottoman Turkish شيطان (şeytān)
  • Turkish şeytan

References

• Haywood, J.A., Nahmad, H.M. (1965) “شيطان”, in A new Arabic grammar, 2^nd edition, London: Lund Humphries, →ISBN
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, pages 522–523
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎^[1] (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 47