Bibliotheca Polyglotta

ClassAr shows many more values (cf. Lane):
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_4 ‘spearhead, iron head, to pierce with a spear’ (sinn, sinān)¹
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_5 ‘ploughshare, iron thing with which the ground is ploughed up’ (sinnaẗ)²
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_6 ‘alike, equal, matching, in age’ (sinn)³
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_7 ‘to tend well, pasture, render fat (camels, cattle); to send to the pasturage, make run quickly’ (sanna, vb. I) ⁴
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_8 ‘to pour (e.g., water on s.o.)’ (sanna, vb. I; ĭstanna, vb. VIII, ‘to pour forth’, e.g., with tears, etc.)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_9 ‘to throw down on the face’ (sanna, vb. I) ⁵
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_10 ‘to form, fashion, shape, make long; to plaster (pottery with clay)’ (sanna, vb. I) ⁶
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_11 ‘to become altered for the worse, or stinking’ (sunna, vb. I, pass.)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_12 ‘nature, natural disposition, temper’ (sunnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_13 ‘(handsome long) face’ (sunnaẗ) ⁷
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_14 ‘black line, or streak, on the back of the ass’ (sunnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_15 ‘sort of Medinan dates’ (sunnaẗ, sinnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_16 ‘(middle part of) way, road’ (sanan)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_17 ‘camels lifting the front legs simultaneously, leaping, springing, or bounding, in their running’ (sanan ; cf. also ĭstanna, vb. VIII, ‘to frisk, be brisk, lively, sprightly, to run (in such a fashion)’⁸
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_18 ‘elevated sands, shaped like a rope’ (sanīnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_19 ‘(gentle) wind’ (sanīnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_20 ‘wild bull’ (sinn)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_21 ‘she-bear, she-lynx’ (sannaẗ, sinnaẗ)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_22 ‘swallow’ (sunn)
▪ ^†SNː (SNN)_23 ‘flies’ (sinān)

1. Probably from sinn [v1] ‘tooth; sharp,edge; to sharpen’. But cf. Calice1936 #84 who puts Ar sinān ‘spearhead’ together with Eg sn ‘Zweizack’ (two-pronged spear) and Berb asennan ‘thorny’. 2. Probably from sinn [v1] ‘tooth; to sharpen’. But cf. Corriente2008: 86 who mentions the word, for EgAr, in the ʔiḍāfa sinn il-muḥrāt ‘ploughshare’ as a possible borrowing from Copt: »contributed by Behnstedt 1981:91, who considers likely a derivation from Copt sine of the same meaning (Crum 343), in spite of the phonetic likeness to Ar sinn ‘tooth; point’, possibly contributing to maintain the Copt item in use. In their unp[ublished] article, however, Behnstedt & Woidich concede the same likelihood to both possibilities.« 3. From sinn in the sense of [v2] ‘age’? 4. From ^†sinn in the fig. meaning of ‘[portion of] herbage upon which camels pasture’, i.e. which they can “polish, smoothen, make even” with their teeth? 5. from ‘tooth’: cf. ^†sānna ’l-nāqaẗa, vb. III, ‘he (the stallion-camel) bit the she-camel with the fore-part of the mouth’. 6. from [v1] ‘tooth, sharpening, whetting’, cf. ^†sannana, vb. II, ‘to polish, make smooth, make beautiful’. 7. Cf. ^†sannana, vb. II, ‘to polish, make smooth, make beautiful’, from [v1] ‘tooth, sharpening, whetting’. 8. Explained as »from sanna as signifying ‘he poured forth’ water, and as signifying ‘he sharpened’ iron upon a whetstone« in ClassAr dictionaries – Lane.

▪ According to ClassAr dictionaires, all three values that are still to be found in MSA are connected, with [v2] ‘age’ and [v3] ‘to prescribe; old custom, norm; Sunna’ being based on [v1] ‘tooth; to sharpen’ as the primary value (for details, see “Discussion” below).
▪ Within SNː (SNN)_1, we assume (with Huehnergard) the vb. ‘to sharpen’ to be denominative from ‘tooth’, as the main etymon of the semantic field. (BDB1906 thought ‘tooth’ was deverbal, from ‘to whet, sharpen’.)
▪ SNː (SNN)_1 and, if dependent on this, also the other two, go back to Sem *šinn‑ ‘tooth’, ultimately probably from AfrAs *šin‑ ‘tooth’.
▪ Not to be confused with ↗sanaẗ ‘year’ (√SN(W)) or ↗sinaẗ ‘slumber, doze’ (√WSN).

–

↗sinn, ↗sunnaẗ.

▪ The semantic variety within the “root” in ClassAr is confusing, not the least because there seems to be much overlapping with ↗SNH and ↗SNW (and perhaps also ↗ṮNY ?). Badawi2008, who also mentions this overlapping, reduces the values to »tooth, teething; age, year; blade, sharpening; handsome face; legislating; method of doing things; precedent«. Within this list, ‘blade, sharpening’ belongs to the sub-field of ‘tooth’ (as ‘sharp edge’), ‘age, year’ and ‘handsome face’ each form a sub-field in their own right, while the last three all belong to the idea of ‘(setting, establishing, following) a norm’. Rearranged according to the groups that are still to be found in MSA, as listed in the disambiguation section above, we get: [v1] ‘tooth, teething; blade, sharpening’, [v2] ‘age, year’, [v3] ‘legislating; method of doing things; precedent’, and ^†[v13] ‘handsome face’. The latter is explained as derived from the idea of ‘polish, smoothness, evenness’ by the ClassAr lexicographers and thus made dependent on ‘tooth, sharpening, whetting’.
▪ According to ClassAr lexicographers, [v2] ‘age’ depends on [v1] ‘tooth’ as a metaphor, »for the teeth vary with the length of life« so that they came to mean ‘measure, or extent, of life; age attained’.
▪ Also from the same etymon, according the dictionaries, is the semantic complex ‘to prescribe; old custom, norm; Sunna’ treated under ↗sunnaẗ. Nişanyan (31Mar2013) explains the latter as going back to the pre-Islamic custom, practised by Arab tribes, of whetting/filing young boys’ teeth at a certain age in order to sharpen them. In the same way as this explanation links ‘custom, habit, norm, prescription’ to the ‘teeth’, it also connects ‘teeth’ with ‘age’ and could therefore serve as another hypothesis about the relation between [v2] and [v1].
▪ Since the vocabulary pertains to the whole SNː (SNN) complex will be arranged separately, corresponding to [v1] to [v3], in the more specific entries on ↗sinn and sunnaẗ and in this way items that, ultimately, may belong together will be torn apart, the “DERIVATIVES” section below lists them all as given in WehrCowan1979, in order to make the internal coherence visible once, before going into details in the more specialized entries.

▪ Engl shin ↗sinn.
▪ Engl Sunna, Sunni ↗sunnaẗ.

For grouping according to internal coherence within narrower semantic sub-fields cf. ↗sinn (with sinn_1 ‘tooth’ and sinn_2 ‘age’) and ↗sunnaẗ.

► sanna, u (sann), vb. I, 1 to sharpen, whet, hone, grind; 2 to mold, shape, form; 3 to prescribe, introduce, enact, establish (a law, a custom) | ~ qānūnan, vb., to enact, or pass, a law
► sannana, vb. II, 1 to sharpen, whet, hone, grind; 2 to indent, jag, notch
► ʔasanna, vb. IV, 1 to grow teeth, cut o.’s teeth, teethe; 2 to grow old, to age; to be advanced in years
► ĭstanna, vb. VIII, 1 to clean and polish o.’s teeth with the siwāk; 2 a to take, follow (a course or way); 2 b to prescribe, introduce, enact, establish (a law, a custom) | ~ sunnata Muḥammad, vb., to follow the Sunna of Mohammed

► sann, n., prescription, introduction, enactment, issuance (of laws)
► ^BP#2441sinn, pl. ʔasnān, ʔasinnaẗ, ʔasunn, n.f., 1 tooth (also, e.g., of a comb; of a saw blade); jag; cog, sprocket, prong; tusk (of an elephant, of a boar, etc.); fang (of a snake, etc.); point, tip (of a nail), nib (of a pen) | ~ al-fīl, n., ivory. — 2 ^BP#1083 (pl. ʔasnān) age (of a person) | ~ al-rušd, n., legal age, majority; ~ al-murāhaqaẗ, n., age of puberty; ~ al-ṭufūlaẗ, n., early childhood; ṣaġīr al ~, adj., young; kabīr al ~, adj., old; ṭaʕana fī ’l-~, vb., to be advanced in years, be aged; taqaddamat bihī al ~, vb., to grow older, to age; to be advanced in years. — 3 (eg.) coarse flour, seconds
► ʔasnānī, adj., dental (phon.)
► ^BP#1725C sunnaẗ, pl. sunan, n., habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition; al-~, or ~ al-nabiyy, n., the Sunna of the Prophet, i.e., his sayings and doings, later established as legally binding precedents (in addition to the Law established by the Koran) | ʔahl al ~, n., the Sunnites, the orthodox Muslims; ~ al-ṭabīʕaẗ, n., law of nature
► ^BP#1811sunnī, adj., Sunnitic; (pl. ‑ūn), n., Sunnite, Sunni
► sanan, n., customary practice, usage, habit, rule
► sinān, pl. ʔasinnaẗ, n., spearhead
► sanūn, n., tooth powder
► sannān, pl. ‑ūn, n., grinder, sharpener (of knives, shears)
► ʔasannᵘ, adj., older, farther advanced in years
► misann, pl. ‑āt, masānnᵘ, n., whetstone, grindstone; razor strop
► tasnīn, n., clothing of teeth (children), teething
► masnūn, adj., 1 prescribed (as Sunna), sanctioned by law and custom; 2 sharpened, whetted, honed; tapered; pointed (e.g., mustache, features); 3 stinking, fetid (mire)
► musannan, adj., 1 toothed, serrated, dentate, denticulate, indented, jagged; 2 pointed, sharp; sharp-featured (countenance); ʕaǧalaẗ ~aẗ, n., cogwheel; ~ al-ʔaṭrāf, adj., deckle-edged (paper)
► musannanaẗ, pl. ‑āt, cogwheel
► musinn, pl. ‑ūn, masānnᵘ, adj., old, aged, advanced in years; dār al-~īn, n.f., home for the aged, old folks home

sinn سِنّ , pl. ʔasnān , ʔasinnaẗ , ʔasunn

ID 424 • Sw 43/173 • BP 2441, 1083 • APD … • © SG | 15Feb2021

√SNː (SNN)

Two main semantic subfields can be distinguished:

^BP#2441[v1] (pl. ʔasnān, ʔasinnaẗ, ʔasunn) n.f., tooth (also, e.g., of a comb; of a saw blade); jag; cog, sprocket, prong; tusk (of an elephant, of a boar, etc.); fang (of a snake, etc.); point, tip (of a nail), nib (of a pen) – WehrCowan1979.

^BP#1083[v2] (pl. ʔasnān) n., 1 age (of a person). — (belonging here?) 2 (EgAr) coarse flour, seconds – WehrCowan1979.

▪ Kogan2015 (Sw#89): from protSem *šinn‑ ‘tooth’ (SED I #249). Passim except Te, Amh and most of modSAr.
▪ Ultimately perh. from AfrAs *sin‑ ‘id’.
▪ According to ClassAr dictionaires, [v2] ‘age’ depends on [v1] ‘tooth’ as a metaphor, »for the teeth vary with the length of life« so that they came to mean ‘measure, or extent, of life; age attained’ (Lane, s.v. sinn).
▪ Also from the same etymon, according the dictionaries, is the semantic complex ‘to prescribe; old custom, norm; Sunna’ treated under ↗sunnaẗ. Nişanyan (31Mar2013) explains the latter as going back to the pre-Islamic custom, practised by Arab tribes, of whetting/filing young boys’ teeth at a certain age in order to sharpen them. In the same way as this explanation links sunnaẗ ‘custom, habit, norm, prescription’ to sinn ‘tooth’, it also connects ‘tooth; sharpening, whetting’ with ‘age’ and could therefore serve as another hypothesis about the relation between [v2] and [v1].
▪ [v2]-2, a value attested only in EgAr, does perhaps not belong here and should be treated separately. More research needed.

[v1]
▪ Badawi2008: ▪ eC7 Q 5:45 wa’l-sinna bi’l-sinni ‘and a tooth for a tooth’

[v1]
▪ Zammit2002: Akk šinnu, Ug šnt ‘tooth/teeth’, Hbr šēn ‘tooth; ivory’, BiblAram šēn ‘tooth’, Syr šennā ‘tooth, tusk’, Gz senn ‘tooth’.
▪ Militarev&Kogan SED-I #249: Akk šinnu, Ebl si-nu-u[m], si-na-tum /šinnum/, /šinnātum/, Ug šn, Hbr šēn, BiblAram šinnayin (du.), JA šinnā, šn, det. šännā, Syr šennā, Mand šina, Gz sənn, Tña šənni, Arg sən, Gaf sənä, Ar sən, sin; Sel isn, Wol əsən, Zwy sən, Cha sən, Eža Muh Msq Gog Sod sənn, Enn End Gye šən, Jib šnin ‘tooth’.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#2250: Akk šinnu, Ug šn, Hbr šēn, Syr šennō, Gz sənn, Tña sənni, Arg Har Gur sən, Gaf sənä ‘tooth’. – Outside Sem: (Berb) Ahg esin; (WCh) šin, šiŋ, šan, šen in several langs; (CCh) ŝena, ŝene, ŝana, šəŋ, ŝine, ŝəini, ŝənɛ, ŝeŋ, sliŋ, ŝɛnnɛ, sina; (ECh) san-dē, hiin, han, k-song, ga-sena, saaŋo, sa:nu, saŋo, seenō, siŋaŋu, sən; (Rift) siḥino in 3 idoms.

[v2]
▪ Apprently no direct cognates in other Sem langs.
▪ Any connection to the notion of ‘change’ lying at the basis of ↗sanaẗ ‘year’ ?

[v1]
▪ BDB1906 considers Hbr šēn ‘tooth’ as deverbal, from Hbr šānan ‘to whet, sharpen’.
▪ Militarev&Kogan SED-I #249: Sem * šinn‑ ≈ *sinn‑ ‘tooth’.
▪ Huehnergard2011 reconstructs a ComSem n. *šinn ‘tooth’ and says that the vb.s for ‘to sharpen’ are denominative from this *šinn.
▪ Orel&Stolbova1994#2250 reconstruct Sem *šinn‑ ‘tooth’, Berb *sin‑, WCh *sin‑, CCh *ŝin‑ (< *ḥa-sin‑), ECh *siHan‑ (< *Ha-sin), Rift *siḥin‑ (from *ḥ˅-sin‑; metathesis), all from AfrAs *sin‑ ‘tooth’.
▪ In ClassAr, a number of additional values are attested for sinn and related items. Those that with all likelihood depend on [v1] ‘tooth; to sharpen’ are: ^†‘spearhead, iron head, to pierce with a spear’;¹ ▪ ^†sinnaẗ ‘ploughshare, iron thing with which the ground is ploughed up’;² ▪ ^†sanna, vb. I, ‘to tend well, pasture, render fat (camels, cattle); to send to the pasturage, make run quickly’ (from ^†sinn in the fig. meaning of ‘[portion of] herbage upon which camels pasture’, i.e. which they can “polish, smoothen, make even” with their teeth?); ▪ ^†sanna, vb. I, ‘to throw down on the face’ (dependence on ‘tooth’ is more evident in the corresponding vb. III, as in sānna ’l-nāqaẗa ‘he [the stallion-camel] bit the she-camel with the fore-part of the mouth’); ▪ ^†sanna, vb. I, ‘to form, fashion, shape, make long; to plaster (pottery with clay)’ (extended meaning, based ‘to sharpen, whet’, hence ‘to give a form, shape’; cf. also ^†sannana, vb. II, ‘to polish, make smooth, make beautiful’); ▪ ^†sunnaẗ ‘(handsome long) face’ (explained in ClassAr dictionaries as ‘the polished, smoothened one’, a face that looks as if it was beautifully polished). — For more values and the whole picture, cf. disambiguation entry ↗SNː (SNN).

[v2]
▪ The explanation, put forward by ClassAr lexicographers (see above, section “CONCISE”), of [v2] ‘age’ depending on [v1] ‘tooth’ because the length of the teeth indicates the age does not sound very convincing. Compared to this etymology, the idea, quoted in Nişanyan’s Sözlük, of sunnaẗ ‘custom, habit’ going back to the Arab tribes’ custom/habit of sharpening young boys’ teeth at a certain age, looks as if there could be some truth to it. If so, it can serve as a semantic link not only between ‘custom, habit’ and ‘tooth’, but also between ‘age’ and ‘tooth’. — Further research needed.
▪ The value given as ‘coarse flower, seconds’ by WehrCowan1979 and listed as [v2]-2 above, is given as ‘bran’ in BadawiHinds1986 and listed as a completely separate item, distinguished from all other values (‘tooth’, ‘age’, ‘custom, habit; sunna’). It is not clear whether it belongs to the notion of ‘(advanced) age’ (coarse flower = old flower?; cf. also ʕēš il-sinn ‘bran bread (prescribed for diabetics)’: = bread for people of advanced age?) or has an etymology and semantic history in its own right.

1. Also sinān. Calice1936 #84 puts sinān ‘spearhead’ together with Eg sn ‘Zweizack’ (two-pronged spear) and Berb asennan ‘thorny’. 2. Probably from sinn [v1] ‘tooth; to sharpen’. But cf. Corriente2008: 86 who mentions the word, for EgAr, in the ʔiḍāfa sinn il-muḥrāt ‘ploughshare’ as a possible borrowing from Copt: »contributed by Behnstedt 1981:91, who considers likely a derivation from Copt sine of the same meaning (Crum 343), in spite of the phonetic likeness to Ar sinn ‘tooth; point’, possibly contributing to maintain the Copt item in use. In their unp[ublished] article, however, Behnstedt & Woidich concede the same likelihood to both possibilities.«

▪ Not the Ar word sinn but Hbr šîn is the name for the letter shin of the Hbr alphabet. The Hbr name goes back to Phoen *šinn ‘tooth’, which is the twenty-first letter of the Phoen alphabet. It is called ‘tooth’ as a result of folk etymology »based on the shape of the letter, which resembles a row of pointed teeth. The letter originally depicted a composite bow, a powerful kind of bow that is made of layers of different materials such as horn and wood and usually has the tips curving away from the archer when unstrung. The earlier name of the letter was *šann < *ṯann ‘composite bow’.« – Huehnergard2011.

For the sake of clarity, [v1] and [v2] are separated here although they may be related (among each other, as well as to ↗sunnaẗ). For an overview of all items, cf. ↗SNː (SNN).

[v1] ‘tooth; to sharpen’
► sinn al-fīl, n., ivory.
sanna, u (sann), vb. I, to sharpen, whet, hone, grind; to mold, shape, form: denom. from sinn ‘tooth’. – For other meanings see ↗sunnaẗ.
► sannana, vb. II, to sharpen, whet, hone, grind; to indent, jag, notch: caus. denom. (to make sharp like teetch, make look like teeth).
► ʔasanna, vb. IV, to grow teeth, cut o.’s teeth, teethe: denom. – For other meanings see below, [v2].
► ĭstanna, vb. VIII, to clean and polish o.’s teeth with the siwāk : denom., autobenef. – For other meanings see ↗sunnaẗ.

► ʔasnānī, adj., dental (phon.): nsb-adj, from ʔasnān, pl. of sinn ‘tooth’.
► sinān, pl. ʔasinnaẗ, n., spearhead: cf. notes to section “DETAILS” above.
► sanūn, n., tooth powder.
► sannān, pl. ‑ūn, n., grinder, sharpener (of knives, shears): n.prof.
► misann, pl. ‑āt, masānnᵘ, n., whetstone, grindstone; razor strop: n.instr.
► tasnīn, n., clothing of teeth (children), teething: vn. II, used as techn.term.
► masnūn, adj., 1 sharpened, whetted, honed; tapered; pointed (e.g., mustache, features): PP I. — (belonging here?) 2 stinking, fetid (mire): lit., *‘sharp, biting’ odour? — For other meanings see ↗sunnaẗ.
► musannan, adj., toothed, serrated, dentate, denticulate, indented, jagged; pointed, sharp; sharp-featured (countenance): PP II. | ʕaǧalaẗ ~aẗ, n., cogwheel; ~ al-ʔaṭrāf, adj., deckle-edged (paper).
► musannanaẗ, pl. ‑āt, cogwheel: PP II f., used as term.techn. in mechanics.

[v2] ‘age, to grow older’
► sinn al-rušd, n., legal age, majority.
► sinn al-murāhaqaẗ, n., age of puberty.
► sinn al-ṭufūlaẗ, n., early childhood.
► ṣaġīr al sinn, adj., young.
► kabīr al sinn, adj., old.
► ṭaʕana fī ’l-sinn, vb. I, to be advanced in years, be aged.
► taqaddamat bihī al sinn, vb. V, to grow older, to age; to be advanced in years.
► ʔasanna, vb. IV, to grow old, to age; to be advanced in years: denom. from sinn ‘(old, advanced) age)’. – For other meanings see above, [v1].
► ʔasannᵘ, adj., older, farther advanced in years: elat. formation.
► musinn, pl. ‑ūn, masānnᵘ, adj., old, aged, advanced in years: PA IV. | dār al-~īn, n.f., home for the aged, old folks home.

sunnaẗ سُنَّة , pl. sunan

√SNː (SNN)

n.f.

habitual practice, customary procedure or action, norm, usage sanctioned by tradition; al-sunnaẗ, or sunnaẗ al-nabiyy, the Sunna of the Prophet, i.e., his sayings and doings, later established as legally binding precedents (in addition to the Law established by the Koran) – WehrCowan1979.

▪ Deverbative from sanna ‘to sharpen, whet, grind’, hence also ‘to polish’ and ‘to shape, give a form’, from ↗sinn ‘tooth’. The proper meaning of sunnaẗ is thus probably ‘s.th. that has been given a shape, a form, a frame’, understood as the customary rules and norms, established through tradition, that give life a shape and uphold public order.
▪ Nişanyan (02Feb2014) gives the same etymology (sunnaẗ < sanna ‘to sharpen, whet’ < sinn ‘tooth’) but has a specific explanation as to how the new meaning derived from the older ones: »The ultimate source of the Ar word is the old Arab tribes’ habit of filing the teeth of male children who had reached a certain age, in order to sharpen them«. From that specific custom, then, would have emerged the meaning ‘custom, habit’ in general. This explanation provides also a link between the two main values of sinn, namely ‘tooth’ and ‘age’ (cf. ↗sinn).
▪ sunnaẗ is not to be confused with words that have the same rasm, سنة, such as ↗sanaẗ ‘year’ (√SN(W)) or ↗sinaẗ ‘slumber, doze’ (√WSN) and some other ClassAr words.

▪ eC7 Q (modes or manners or customs of life and living, norms, established practices) 3:137 qad ḫalat min qabli-kum sunanun ‘systems have passed away before you’. ▪ (practice, law, way) 33:62 wa-lan taǧida li-sunnaẗi ’ḷḷāhi tabdīlan ‘thou wilt not find for the way of Allah aught of power to change’ – (Badawi2008)
▪ The specific use of sunnaẗ in the sense of ‘the Prophet (Muḥammad)’s tradition’ is attested from early Islamic times. [attestation needed]

▪ Zammit2002: (for sunnaẗ ‘law; conduct; punishment’): SAr snt ‘rule, code, customary law’, Gz tasnān ‘judicium’.
▪ No immediate cognates in other Sem langs other than those listed by Zammit. But since the word with all probability depends on sanna ‘to sharpen, shape’, which is from sinn ‘tooth’, cf. the cognates given in the entry on ↗sinn.

▪ Huehnergard2011 #snn states that sunnaẗ is (deverb.) from < sanna ‘to sharpen, shape; to prescribe’, which is (denom.) from sinn ‘tooth’ < ComSem *šinn ‘tooth’.
▪ Nişanyan (02Feb2014): sunnaẗ is from Ar sanna ‘1. to bite, nibble, gnaw; to sharpen, whet, grind; 2. to set up a rule or norm’, from Ar sinn ‘tooth’. »The ultimate source of the Ar word is the old Arab tribes’ habit of filing the teeth of male children who had reached a certain age, in order to sharpen them«.³ .
▪ In ClassAr, a number of additional values are attested for sunnaẗ and related items. Those that with all likelihood belong to the same semantic group are: ▪ ^†sanna, vb. I, ‘to form, fashion, shape, make long; to plaster (pottery with clay)’ (having the idea of ‘shaping, form-giving, fashioning’ in common with sunnaẗ in the sense of ‘norm’); ▪ ^†sunnaẗ ‘nature, natural disposition, temper’ (lit., *o.’s habit?); ▪ ^†sunnaẗ ‘(handsome long) face’ (lit., *the well-formed, beautifully shaped one?). – More doubtful: ▪ ^†sunnaẗ ‘black line, or streak, on the back of the ass’; ▪ ^†sunnaẗ, sinnaẗ ‘sort of Medinan dates’; ▪ ^†sanan ‘(middle part of) way, road’.
▪ In ClassAr, there are not only sanaẗ ‘year’ and sinaẗ ‘slumber, doze’ that have the same rasm سنة as sunnaẗ, but also ^†sannaẗ ‘she-bear’ and ^†sinnaẗ ‘double-edged axe; ploughshare; coin, money’ (values given as in Steingass1884 / Wahrmund1887).

3. Arapça sözcüğün nihai kaynağı eski Arap aşiret töresi uyarınca belli bir yaşa gelen erkek çocukların dişlerinin yontularak keskinleştirilmesidir.

▪ Engl Sunna, n., from Ar sunnaẗ; Sunni, n., 1620 s, from Ar sunnī ‘adherent of the Sunnah; Muslim who accepts the orthodox tradition as well as the Quran,’ from sunnaẗ ‘traditional teachings of Muhammad,’ lit. ‘way, custom, course, tradition, usage,’ from sanna ‘to sharpen, shape, prescribe’. – Related: Sunnite. – EtymOnline / Huehnergard2011.
▪ Tu sünnet ‘circumcision’ (Muḳaddimetü’l-ʔEdeb, <1300), from Ar sunnaẗ – Nişanyan (02Feb2014).

► ʔahl al sunnaẗ, n., the Sunnites, the orthodox Muslims.
► sunnaẗ al-ṭabīʕaẗ, n., law of nature.

► sanna, u (sann), vb. I, to prescribe, introduce, enact, establish (a law, a custom): denom. from sunnaẗ, or is the latter deverb. from sanna ? | ~ qānūnan, vb., to enact, or pass, a law. – For other meanings see ↗sinn [v1].
► ĭstanna, vb. VIII, to take, follow (a course or way); to prescribe, introduce, enact, establish (a law, a custom): t-stem of I, denom. from sann or sunnaẗ. | ~ sunnaẗa Muḥammad, vb., to follow the Sunna of Mohammed. – For other meanings see ↗sinn [v1].

► sann, n., prescription, introduction, enactment, issuance (of laws): vn. I.
► ^BP#1811sunnī, adj., Sunnitic; (pl. ‑ūn), n., Sunnite, Sunni: nsb-adj, from sunnaẗ.
► sanan, n., customary practice, usage, habit, rule.
► masnūn, adj., prescribed (as Sunna), sanctioned by law and custom: PP I. – For other meanings see ↗sinn [v1].

sunnī سُنِّيّ

√SNː (SNN)

¹adj.; ²n.

… – WehrCowan1979.

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▪ (Huehnergard2011:) Engl Sunni, from Ar sunnī ‘Sunni’, from ↗sunnaẗ ‘customary practice, tradition’, from sanna ‘to sharpen, shape, prescribe’.

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