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samekh

samekh

1 9.9
The fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet
  • noun
  • /sɑːˈmɛk/
: samej
  • During the Hebrew lesson, the teacher explained the significance of the letter samekh in ancient texts.

Examples

  • In Hebrew, the letter samekh has a unique shape that distinguishes it from other letters.

  • That when he came to her with the bolo or machete and a hunting knife in his belt, and some kind of ritualistic design like a samekh or palsied omicron drawn on his tenebrous brow in the blood or lipstick of a previous victim, and turned her.

    Fiction book (1997)
  • The letter samekh is often used in Hebrew writing and is the fifteenth letter of the alphabet.

Synonyms

samek
vssamekh
  • Specialized
1 9.9

The fifteenth letter of the Hebrew alphabet

is the same letter but written in an alternate spelling form

Surface Forms

samekh singular
samekhs plural

Etymology

The word samekh comes from an old Semitic root s-m-k that means 'support' or 'to lean'. A helpful way to remember this letter is to imagine it as a small 'support' or hook in the Hebrew alphabet, which is why the same name still refers to the fifteenth Hebrew letter.