عوام

See also: غوام

Arabic

Etymology 1

Root
ع و م (ʕ w m)
3 terms

From عَامَ (ʕāma), from the root ع و م (ʕ w m).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕaw.waːm/

Noun

عَوَّام • (ʕawwām) m

1. swimmer

Declension

Declension of noun عَوَّام (ʕawwām)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	عَوَّام ʕawwām	الْعَوَّام al-ʕawwām	عَوَّام ʕawwām
Nominative	عَوَّامٌ ʕawwāmun	الْعَوَّامُ al-ʕawwāmu	عَوَّامُ ʕawwāmu
Accusative	عَوَّامًا ʕawwāman	الْعَوَّامَ al-ʕawwāma	عَوَّامَ ʕawwāma
Genitive	عَوَّامٍ ʕawwāmin	الْعَوَّامِ al-ʕawwāmi	عَوَّامِ ʕawwāmi

Etymology 2

Root
ع م م (ʕ m m)
15 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕa.waːmm/

Noun

عَوَامّ • (ʕawāmm) f pl

1. plural of عَامَّة (ʕāmma)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: avam
• → Classical Persian: عَوَام (awām)
  • → Urdu: عوام ('avām)
• → Punjabi: ਅਵਾਮ (avām)
• → Ottoman Turkish: عوام (avam)
  • → Turkish: avam
• → Uyghur: ئاۋام (awam)
• → Uzbek: avom

Further reading

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1884) “عوام”, in The Student's Arabic–English Dictionary‎^[1], London: W.H. Allen

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic عَوَامّ (ʕawāmm).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔa.wɑːm]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.wɑːm]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.wɑːm]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔä.wɑːm]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔä.wɔːm]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæ.vɒːm]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.vɔm]

Readings
Classical reading?	awām
Dari reading?	awām
Iranian reading?	avâm
Tajik reading?	avom

Noun

عوام • ('avâm)

1. plural of عامه (âmme) and عام (âmm)
2. the common people, populace
3. the illiterate or uneducated classes

Adjective

عوام • ('avâm)

1. vulgar
2. illiterate

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “عوام”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim
• Bulkin, Carleton (2012) “عوام”, in Dari-English/English-Dari practical dictionary, 2nd edition, New York: Hippocrene Books, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 251

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian عوام ('awām), from Arabic عَوَامّ (ʕawāmm), the plural of عَامَّة (ʕāmma). Compare Punjabi ਅਵਾਮ (avām).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /(ʔ)ə.ʋɑːm/
• Rhymes: -ɑːm
• Hyphenation: عَ‧وام

Noun

عَوام • ('avām) m (indeclinable, formal plural عَوامات ('avāmāt), Hindi spelling अवाम)

1. public; masses, common folk, laity
2. crowd

Synonyms

• جَنْتا (jantā)
• لوگ (log)

Derived terms

• عَوامی ('avāmī)

Related terms

• عام ('ām)

Further reading

• “عوام”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “عوام”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “عوام”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “عوام”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “عوام”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “عوام”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC

Ushojo

Etymology

From Urdu عوام (ʿawām), from Arabic عَوَامّ (ʕawāmm).

Noun

عوام (ʿawām)

1. people, public