๐“…“

𓅓 - Egyptian

Glyph origin

Representing an owl. This is the only bird hieroglyph that is depicted face-on, perhaps because of its distinctive gaze. The reversible hind toe is not drawn. The precise species of owl varied by time period; in the Protodynastic Period it was the pharaoh eagle owl (Bubo ascalaphus), and this was also used sporadically throughout dynastic times. Since the 3rd Dynasty the owl was more commonly a barn owl (Tyto alba alba). In hieratic the owl is long-eared (‘horned’) since the earliest times. Conventionally, it is colored yellow.

The phonetic value of m is presumably derived from some word (probably for an owl), but this word may have been lost in archaic times; numerous hypotheses have been put forward about what it might have been:

  • A Proto-Egyptian *mwlḏ (owl), cf. Demotic ꜣmwlḏ, ꜥmwlḏ (eagle owl)
  • An Old Egyptian *mz (owl), cf. Hausa múúǯììyáá (owl), Gwandara múǯìya (owl)
  • An Old Egyptian *jmw (owl, literally the mourner), cf. Egyptian jm (lament, mourn), Late Egyptian jm (name of a bird)
  • An Old Egyptian *mꜣ (owl, literally the seeing one), cf. Egyptian mꜣꜣ (to see)
  • Related to Semitic *būm- (owl)

Symbol

(m)

  1. Uniliteral phonogram for m.
Meaning and Definition of ๐“…“
ยฉ 2022 WordCodex