wsḫ

See also: WSH

Egyptian

Pronunciation

• (modern Egyptological) IPA^(key): /wɛsɛx/
  • Conventional anglicization: wesekh

Etymology 1

Sometimes hypothesized to be from a form such as Proto-Afroasiatic *wsɣ; compare Arabic وَسُعَ (wasuʕa), وَسِعَ (wasiʕa, “to be wide”). Also compare Central Atlas Tamazight ⵙⵙⵉⵖ (ssiɣ, “to pass, give, extend, expand”).

Verb

 3-lit.

1. (intransitive) to be(come) broad, to be(come) wide
   • c. 1900 BCE, The Instructions of Kagemni (pPrisse/pBN 183) lines 1.1–1.2:

     wn ẖn n grw wsḫ st nt hr m mdww

     The tent is open to the quiet man; the place of the man calm in speech is broad.

2. (intransitive, of movements) to be(come) extensive, wide-ranging
3. (intransitive) to be(come) abundant, extensive, rich (+ m: in)
4. (intransitive, of names) to be(come) renowned, widely known, famous
5. (intransitive, impersonal, with n) to have space for (someone)

Inflection

Conjugation of wsḫ (triliteral / 3-lit. / 3rad.) — base stem: wsḫ, geminated stem: wsḫḫ

infinitival forms imperative infinitive negatival complement complementary infinitive1 singular plural wsḫ wsḫw, wsḫ wsḫt wsḫ wsḫ ‘pseudoverbal’ forms stative stem periphrastic imperfective2 periphrastic prospective2 wsḫ ḥr wsḫ m wsḫ r wsḫ suffix conjugation aspect / mood active contingent aspect / mood active perfect wsḫ.n consecutive wsḫ.jn terminative wsḫt perfective3 wsḫ obligative1 wsḫ.ḫr imperfective wsḫ prospective3 wsḫ potentialis1 wsḫ.kꜣ subjunctive wsḫ verbal adjectives aspect / mood relative (incl. nominal / emphatic) forms participles active active passive perfect wsḫ.n — — perfective wsḫ wsḫ wsḫ, wsḫw5, wsḫy5 imperfective wsḫ, wsḫy, wsḫw5 wsḫ, wsḫj6, wsḫy6 wsḫ, wsḫw5 prospective wsḫ, wsḫtj7 wsḫtj4, wsḫt4 1 Used in Old Egyptian; archaic by Middle Egyptian. 2 Used mostly since Middle Egyptian. 3 Archaic or greatly restricted in usage by Middle Egyptian. The perfect has mostly taken over the functions of the perfective, and the subjunctive and periphrastic prospective have mostly replaced the prospective. 4 Declines using third-person suffix pronouns instead of adjectival endings: masculine .f/.fj, feminine .s/.sj, dual .sn/.snj, plural .sn. 5 Only in the masculine singular. 6 Only in the masculine. 7 Only in the feminine.

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of wsḫ  

wsḫ	wsḫ	wsḫ	wsḫ	wsḫ
[Middle Kingdom]	[Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]	[since the Middle Kingdom]	[Greco-Roman Period]
abbreviation	abbreviation

Derived terms

• swsḫ
• sḫw

Descendants

• Demotic: wsh̭, wsš
  • Coptic: ⲟⲩⲱϣⲥ̄ (ouōšs̄), ⲟⲩⲱⲥⳉ (ouōsx)

Adjective

1. perfective active participle of wsḫ; broad, wide
2. imperfective active participle of wsḫ; broad, wide

Inflection

Declension of wsḫ (perfective active participle)

	masculine	feminine
singular	wsḫ	wsḫt
dual	wsḫwj	wsḫtj
plural	wsḫw	wsḫwt1, wsḫt2

¹ Archaic in Middle Egyptian when modifying a noun.
² From Middle Egyptian, this feminine singular form was generally used for the plural.
In Late Egyptian, the masculine singular form was used with all nouns.

Declension of wsḫ (imperfective active participle)

	masculine	feminine
singular	wsḫ, wsḫj, wsḫy	wsḫt
dual	wsḫwj, wsḫjwj, wsḫywj	wsḫtj
plural	wsḫw, wsḫjw, wsḫyw	wsḫwt1, wsḫt2

¹ Archaic in Middle Egyptian when modifying a noun.
² From Middle Egyptian, this feminine singular form was generally used for the plural.
In Late Egyptian, the masculine singular form was used with all nouns.

Alternative forms

See under the verb above.

Noun

 m

1. breadth, width

Inflection

Declension of wsḫ (masculine)

singular	wsḫ
dual	wsḫwj
plural	wsḫw

Alternative forms

See under the verb above.

Noun

 m

1. broad collar or necklace [since the Middle Kingdom]

Inflection

Declension of wsḫ (masculine)

singular	wsḫ
dual	wsḫwj
plural	wsḫw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of wsḫ  

wsḫ	wsḫ	wsḫ	wsḫ
		abbreviation	abbreviation

Etymology 2

Noun

 m

1. barge

Inflection

Declension of wsḫ (masculine)

singular	wsḫ
dual	wsḫwj
plural	wsḫw

Alternative forms

Alternative hieroglyphic writings of wsḫ  

wsḫ

References

• “wsḫ (lemma ID 49800)”, “wsḫ (lemma ID 49820)”, and “wsḫ (lemma ID 49840)”, in Thesaurus Linguae Aegyptiae‎^[1], Corpus issue 18, Web app version 2.1.5, Tonio Sebastian Richter & Daniel A. Werning by order of the Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften and Hans-Werner Fischer-Elfert & Peter Dils by order of the Sächsische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Leipzig, 2004–26 July 2023
• Erman, Adolf, Grapow, Hermann (1926) Wörterbuch der ägyptischen Sprache‎^[2], volume 1, Berlin: Akademie-Verlag, →ISBN, pages 364.11–365.12, 365.16–366.2
• Faulkner, Raymond Oliver (1962) A Concise Dictionary of Middle Egyptian, Oxford: Griffith Institute, →ISBN, page 69
• James P[eter] Allen (2010) Middle Egyptian: An Introduction to the Language and Culture of Hieroglyphs, 2nd edition, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, →ISBN, pages 83, 125, 135.
• Hoch, James (1997) Middle Egyptian Grammar, Mississauga: Benben Publications, →ISBN, page 112