אמן

See also: אָמן

Hebrew

FWOTD – 27 October 2025

Etymology 1

Root
א־מ־ן (ʾ-m-n)
18 terms

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli, Sephardi) IPA^(key): /aˈmen/
• (Ashkenazi) IPA^(key): /ɔˈmeɪn/
• (Iraqi, Syrian) IPA^(key): /ʔaˈmen/
• (Yemenite, Tiberian) IPA^(key): /ʔɔːˈmeːen/
• Rhymes: -en

Interjection

אָמֵן • (amén, āmên)

1. Used to express agreement with what was just stated: amen
   • Tanach, Psalms 89:53, with the JPS 1917 translation (Sefaria):

     בָּרוּךְ יְהֹוָה לְעוֹלָם אָמֵן וְאָמֵן׃

     Barûḵ Ăḏōnây l'ōlám, amên w'amên.

     Blessed be the Lord for evermore. Amen, and Amen.

   • a. 500 C.E., Babylonian Talmud, Shabbat 119b:

     אָמַר רֵישׁ לָקִישׁ: כָּל הָעוֹנֶה אָמֵן בְּכׇל כֹּחוֹ פּוֹתְחִין לוֹ שַׁעֲרֵי גַן עֵדֶן, שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר: ״פִּתְחוּ שְׁעָרִים וְיָבֹא גוֹי צַדִּיק שׁוֹמֵר אֱמוּנִים״, אַל תִּיקְרֵי ״שׁוֹמֵר אֱמוּנִים״ אֶלָּא: ״שֶׁאוֹמְרִים אָמֵן״.

     Amâr Rēš Laqîš: kol ha'ōnéh amên bəḵol kōḥôw pōṯəḥîn lō šā'ărêy ḡān 'êden, šeneɁĕmâr "piṯəḥû šə'arîm wəyabôɁ ḡōy ṣāḏîq šōmêr ĕmūnîm," āl tīqərêy "šōmêr ĕmūnîm" élaɁ "šeɁōmərîm amên."

     Resh Lakish said: anyone who answers "Amen" with all his strength, the gates of the Garden of Eden open for him, as it is said, "Open, gates, so the righteous nation may enter, guardian of faith." Don't read it as "guardian of faith" — shomér emuním — but as "those who say amen" — she'omrím amén.

Descendants

• → Classical Syriac: ܐܡܝܢ ('āmēyn)
  • → Arabic: آمِينَ (ʔāmīna)
    • Gulf Arabic: آمين (āmin)
• → Ancient Greek: ἀμήν (amḗn)
  • → Bulgarian: амин (amin)
  • → Estonian: aamen
  • → Finnish: aamen
  • → Ge'ez: አሜን (ʾämen)
  • → Latin: āmēn
    • → German: Amen
    • → English: amen
    • → French: amen
    • → Galician: amén
    • → Italian: amen
    • → Portuguese: amém
    • → Spanish: amén
    • → Catalan: amén
  • → Russian: ами́нь (amínʹ)

References

• Strong, James (1979), “H543”, in Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli) IPA^(key): /oˈman/, (colloquial, proscribed) /aˈman/

Noun

אָמָּן • (omán) m

1. defective spelling of אומן (omán, “an artist”).

Usage notes

• In pointed spelling, this term contains a kamats (◌ׇ) pronounced /o/ (kamats katan). Before 2017, the Academy of the Hebrew Language prescribed omitting ו (vav) in unpointed spelling when the kamats katan remained throughout the term's inflection, so this was the standard plene spelling. This rule was not well understood by the public and often ignored. In 2017, the Academy revised its rules so that /o/ would generally be represented by vav and this became a non-standard defective spelling.^[1]

Noun

אֻמָּן • (umán) m

1. defective spelling of אומן

Etymology 3

Verb

אִמֵּן • (imén) (pi'el construction)

1. defective spelling of אימן

Verb

אֻמַּן • (umán) (pu'al construction)

1. defective spelling of אומן

Yiddish

Interjection

אמן • (omeyn)

1. (nonstandard) Unpointed form of אָמן (omeyn).