conc▪ Out of the 5 values given by DRS for the root ZʕM in Sem, 3 are represented in Ar, of which only 1 in MSA (1 in ClassAr, 1 in EAr).
▪ ZʕM_1 : apparently without cognates in Sem. – For ClassAr zaʕama (u, z˅ʕm), Hava1899 gives the value ‘to assert s.th. true or false’, DRS has ‘parler, dire, énoncer une opinion’ as the basic value from which the others derive. The zaʕīm is the one who has the authority to decide between true and false, good and bad, right and wrong.
▪ ZʕM_2 : ClassAr †zaʕāʔimᵘ is obviously the pl. of an (obsol.) sg. that, according to regular patterns, should be assumed to be †*zaʕīmaẗ. Etymology obscure. Borrowed from a SAr lang?
▪ ZʕM_3 : The vb. I †zaʕima ‘to covet, desire eagerly (fī s.th.)’, which is not found in MSA any longer, belongs to ZʕM_1 ‘to assert, pronounce an opinion’: if you are convinced that s.th. is right, true, or good, and express your opinion vehemently, you may attach your emotions to it, hence desire it.
▪ ZʕM_4 †zaʕamaẗ ‘glory, dignity, power’: from ZʕM_1; lit., quality of a zaʕīm.
▪ ZʕM_5 †zuʕmī ‘truthful; mendacious’: from ZʕM_1; lit., subject to zuʕm, i.e., s.th. the quality of which still has to be tested and asserted, s.th. that can be either so or so.
▪ ZʕM_6 †zaʕūm ‘having little fat; having much fat (she-camel, sheep, goat)’: from ZʕM_1; lit., (animal) »of which one doubts whether there be in her fat or not, and which is therefore felt with the hand, in order that one may know if she be fat or lean« (Lane). – Cf. also the less equivocal †zaʕim ‘(of roasted meat:) dripping with its gravy; succulent, dripping with its juice or fat’ (ibid.)