Where does “عالم” come from?
عالم (Urdu) comes from Classical Persian عالم, from Arabic عالم, from Arabic عَلِمَ, from Arabic ل, from Proto-Semitic *lV-.
عالم (Urdu): world; universe; mankind
Ancestry of “عالم”, step by step
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|
| 1 | Classical Persian | عالم | — |
| 2 | Arabic | عالم | world; universe, cosmos, existence; things,... |
| 3 | Arabic | عَلِمَ | to know, to perceive, to distinguish |
| 4 | Arabic | ل | to, for, belonging to; لَـ •; Used to express... |
| 5 | Proto-Semitic | *lV- | — |