معما

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic مُعَمًّى (muʕamman), passive participle of عَمَّى (ʕammā, “to conceal, make cryptic”).

Noun

معما • (mu'amma)

1. mystery
2. riddle, puzzle

Descendants

• Turkish: muamma

References

• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “معما”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1914
• Avery, Robert et al., editors (2013), The Redhouse Dictionary Turkish/Ottoman English, 21st edition, Istanbul: Sev Yayıncılık, →ISBN

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مُعَمًّى (muʕamman), passive participle of عَمَّى (ʕammā, “to conceal, make cryptic”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [mu.ʔam.ˈmɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mo̞.ʔäm.mɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mo̞.ʔäm.mɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mʊ.wäm.mɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mu.wäm.mɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mo.ʔæm.mɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mu.ʔäm.mɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	mu'ammā
Dari reading?	mo'ammā
Iranian reading?	mo'ammâ
Tajik reading?	müʾammo

Noun

Dari	مُعَمّا
Iranian Persian
Tajik	муаммо

مُعَمّا • (mo'ammâ) (plural معما‌ها (mo'ammâ-hâ) or مُعَمّات (mo'ammât))

1. riddle; enigma; puzzle

   Synonyms: چیستان (čistân), لُغَز (loğaz)

2. (poetry) very short poem which conceals the name of a person, to be puzzled out through textual clues

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: müəmma
• → Ottoman Turkish: معما (mu'ammâ)
  • Turkish: muamma