شمال

From Proto-Semitic *śimāl-. Cognate with Hebrew שְׂמֹאל (s'mól, “left”), Akkadian 𒆏 (šumēlum, “left side”), Aramaic סְמָלָא (səmālā) / ܣܡܠܐ (semmālā, “left side”), Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎀𐎍 (šmảl). The north sense derives from the left-hand side facing the sunrise, also attested in Sabaean 𐩠𐩦𐩱𐩣𐩡 (hs²ʾml, “to be northward”).

• IPA^(key): /ʃi.maːl/

شِمَال • (šimāl) f (plural أَشْمُل (ʔašmul) or شَمَائِل (šamāʔil) or شُمُل (šumul))

1. left hand
2. left side
3. bad omen
4. handful of ears

• يَسَار (yasār)

• يَمِين (yamīn)

• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893), “شمال”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate.
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “شمال”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[1], London: W.H. Allen
• “Proto-Semitic Root: *ŝimaʔl-; Number 2218” in Georgiy Starostin, Tower of Babel, Copyright 1998-2003 by S. Starostin.

From the root ش م ل (š m l) meaning “to bundle, “to wrap”, “to huddle”, “to be cold” – such senses are influenced by the cold-dry northerly wind necessitating wrapping up with clothes.

شِمَال • (šimāl) m (plural شَمَائِل (šamāʔil))

1. case, sheath, wrapping

• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893), “شمال”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate.
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “شمال”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[2], London: W.H. Allen

From the root ش م ل (š m l) meaning “to be leftward” – the north direction being the left-hand side facing the sunrise; constrast with اَلْيَمَن (al-yaman), originally denoting one's right-hand side, before developing the sense of "the south". Additionally it is relatable to the root meaning “to bundle” or “to wrap”, as the cold northern wind necessitated wrapping up with clothes, contrasting with جَنُوب (janūb, “south”) from the root ج ن ب (j n b) meaning “changing”, “laying aside” clothes, the warm southern wind allowing to put off clothes.

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.maːl/

• Audio:

  (file)

شَمَال • (šamāl) m

1. north

compass points: اِتِّجَاهَات الْبَوْصَلَةِ (ittijāhāt al-bawṣalati):  ^[edit]

شَمَال غَرْبِيّ (šamāl ḡarbiyy)	شَمَال (šamāl)	شَمَال شَرْقِيّ (šamāl šarqiyy)
غَرْب (ḡarb)		شَرْق (šarq)
جَنُوب غَرْبِيّ (janūb ḡarbiyy)	جَنُوب (janūb)	جَنُوب شَرْقِيّ (janūb šarqiyy)

شَمَال • (šamāl) f (plural شَمَالَات (šamālāt))

1. north wind

• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893), “شمال”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate.
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884), “شمال”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[3], London: W.H. Allen
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “شمل”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Borrowed from Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

شمال • (šimal)

1. north

• Uyghur: شىمال (shimal, “north”)
• Uzbek: shimol (“north”)

شمال • (šemal)

1. wind

• Uyghur: شامال (shamal, “wind”)
• Uzbek: shamol (“wind”)

From Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.maːl/

شمال • (šamāl) m

1. north

compass points: اِتِّجَاهَات الْبوصَلَة (ittijāhāt al-būṣala):  ^[edit]

شَمَال غَرْب (šamāl ḡarb)	شَمَال (šamāl)	شَمَال شَرْق (šamāl šarg)
غَرْب (ḡarb)		شَرْق (šarg)
جَنُوب غَرْب (janūb ḡarb)	جَنُوب (janūb)	جَنُوب شَرْق (janūb šarg)

• شَمالي (šamāli, “northern”)

From Arabic شِمَال (šimāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃu.maːl/, [ʃʊ.maːl]

شمال • (šumāl) m

1. (rare) left

   Synonym: يَسار (yasār)

From Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.maːl/

شمال • (šamāl) m

1. north

• شمالي (šamāli, “northern”)

compass points:  ^[edit]

	شمال (šamāl)
غرب (ḡarb)		شرق (šarq)
	جنوب (janūb)

From Arabic شِمَال (šimāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃmaːl/

شمال • (šmāl) m

1. left

• شمالي (šmāli, “left-handed”)

Borrowed from Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃɪˈmɑl, ʃaˈmɑl/

شمال • (šimāl) m

1. north

compass points:  ^[edit]

شمال لوېديځ	شمال	شمال ختيځ
لوېديځ		ختيځ
جنوب لوېديځ	جنوب	جنوب ختيځ

• شمالي

Pashtoon, Zeeya A. (2009), “شمال”, in Pashto–English Dictionary, Hyattsville: Dunwoody Press

Borrowed from Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

Readings
Classical reading?	šamāl, šumāl, šimāl
Dari reading?	šamāl
Iranian reading?	šomâl
Tajik reading?	šimol, šamol

شمال • (šomâl)

1. north

   Synonym: اپاختر (apaxtar)

2. north wind

   Synonym: باد شمال (bâd-e šomâl)

3. (Iran, colloquial) Northern Iran

   Synonym: شمال ایران (šomâl-e irân)

4. (Tajik) wind

   Synonym: باد (bâd)

• In Tajik Persian, шимол (šimol) (شِمال) refers to "north", while шамол (šamol) (شَمال) refers to "wind". These are etymologically doublets, and not phonetically or orthographically distinguished in Iranian Persian.

• شمالی (šomâli)

From Arabic شِمَال (šimāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃmaːl/, [ʃmæːl]

• Audio (Jerusalem):

  (file)

شمال • (šmāl) m

1. left

   Antonym: يمين (yamīn)

From Arabic شَمَال (šamāl).

• IPA^(key): /ʃa.maːl/, [ʃaˈmæːl]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

شمال • (šamāl) m

1. north

• شمالي (šamāli, “northern”)

compass points:  ^[edit]

	شمال (šamāl)
غرب (ḡarb)		شرق (šarq)
	جنوب (janūb)

Borrowed from Classical Persian شُمَال (šumāl)

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ʃʊ.mɑːl/, /ʃɪ.mɑːl/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑːl

شُمال or شِمال • (śumāl or śimāl) m (Hindi spelling शुमाल or शिमाल)

1. north

compass points:  ^[edit]

شمال مغربی	شمال	شمال مشرقی
مغرب		مشرق
جنوب مغربی	جنوب	جنوب مشرقی

• “شمال”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “شمال”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.

شمال (šmāl)

1. light spray