שפם

Hebrew

גבר גרמני עם שפם

gever germani im safam

a German man with a mustache

Etymology

From שָׂפָה (safá, “lip”) +‎ ־ָם (-am).

Pronunciation

• (Biblical Hebrew) IPA^(key): /saːˈpaːm/, [saːˈfaːm]
• (Tiberian Hebrew) IPA^(key): /sɔˈpɔm/, [sɔːˈfɔːm]
• (Modern Israeli Hebrew) IPA^(key): /saˈfam/

• Audio:

  (file)

Noun

שָׂפָם • (safám) m (plural indefinite שְׂפָמִים or שְׂפָמוֹת, singular construct שְׂפַם־)

1. moustache
   • Tanach, 2 Samuel 19:25, with translation of the Jewish Publication Society:

     וּמְפִבֹשֶׁת בֶּן־שָׁאוּל יָרַד לִקְרַאת הַמֶּלֶךְ וְלֹא־עָשָׂה רַגְלָיו וְלֹא־עָשָׂה שְׂפָמוֹ וְאֶת־בְּגָדָיו לֹא כִבֵּס לְמִן־הַיּוֹם לֶכֶת הַמֶּלֶךְ עַד־הַיּוֹם אֲשֶׁר־בָּא בְשָׁלוֹם׃

     Mephibosheth, the grandson of Saul, also came down to meet the king. He had not pared his toenails, or trimmed his mustache, or washed his clothes from the day that the king left until the day he returned safe.

2. whiskers (e.g. of a cat)

Declension

Declension of שָׂפָם

Number	Isolated forms		With possessive pronouns
	State	Form	Person	singular		plural
				m.	f.	m.	f.
singular	indefinite	שָׂפָם	first	שְׂפָמִי		שְׂפָמֵנוּ
	definite	הַשָּׂפָם	second	שְׂפָמְךָ	שְׂפָמֵךְ	שְׂפַמְכֶם	שְׂפַמְכֶן
	construct	שְׂפַם־	third	שְׂפָמוֹ	שְׂפָמָהּ	שְׂפָמָם	שְׂפָמָן
plural	indefinite	שְׂפָמִים	first	שפמיי / שְׂפָמַי		שְׂפָמֵינוּ
	definite	הַשְּׂפָמִים	second	שְׂפָמֶיךָ	שפמייך / שְׂפָמַיִךְ	שַׂפְמֵיכֶם	שַׂפְמֵיכֶן
	construct	שַׂפְמֵי־	third	שְׂפָמָיו	שְׂפָמֶיהָ	שַׂפְמֵיהֶם	שַׂפְמֵיהֶן

Derived terms

• שְׂפַמְנוּן (sfamnún, “catfish”)

See also

• זָקָן (zakán, “beard”)

References

• H8222 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible
• Klein, Ernest (1987) “שָׂפָם”, in A Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of the Hebrew Language for Readers of English‎^[1], Jerusalem: Carta, →ISBN, page 676a
• Jastrow, Marcus (1903) A Dictionary of the Targumim, the Talmud Babli and Yerushalmi, and the Midrashic Literature, London, New York: Luzac & Co., G.P. Putnam's Sons, page 1618a
• “שפם” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• שפם on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he