נחש

Aramaic

Verb

נחש • (transliteration needed)

1. to divine

Hebrew

Root
נ־ח־שׁ (n-kh-sh)

Pronunciation

• (Modern Israeli Hebrew):
  • (נָחָשׁ) IPA^(key): [naˈχaʃ]
  • (נַחַשׁ) IPA^(key): [ˈnaχaʃ]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Semitic *naḥaš- (“lion”). Compare Arabic حَنَش (ḥanaš, “snake”), Akkadian 𒌨𒈤𒊭𒆕𒋡𒊑 (nēšu ša qaqqari, “snake, chameleon^?”, literally “lion of the ground”) and Ugaritic 𐎐𐎈𐎌 (nḥš, “snake”).

Noun

נָחָשׁ • (nakhásh) m (plural indefinite נְחָשִׁים, singular construct נְחַשׁ־, plural construct נַחֲשֵׁי־) [pattern: קָטָל]

1. snake (the animal)

Descendants

• → Hawaiian: naheka (learned)

Further reading

• H5175 in Strong, James (1979) Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance to the Bible

Etymology 2

Noun

נַחַשׁ • (nákhash) m [pattern: קֶטֶל]

1. magic, sorcery, spell, enchantment, augury

Verb

נִחֵשׁ • (nikhésh)

1. defective spelling of ניחש