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ArchivesRe: Sanam
in reply to a message by ADT
It is a urdu word; used also in large part of the Hindi speaking belt, and known beyond because of its use in songs. It comes from Arabic صنم and means "sweetheart". (I know no Arabic)
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I read and speak Urdu (beginner level) but I've only seen in it defined as "idol." The spelling was identical: صنم Both words seem to come from Arabic: The first letter is a swaad, the less common of two Urdu letters which sound like "s." The swaad generally appears in Arabic-derived Urdu words.
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http://dsal.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/philologic/contextualize.pl?p.5.platts.2140366 (See end of the page). It means both idol and lover. The meaning "lover" is all that exists in everyday Hindi.
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Thank you so much! The mother of the man who has the name is Hindu so it makes sense.
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