From the rootش ء م ( š ʔ m ) , a variant ofش م ل ( š m l ) ; contrasted withاليَمَن ( al-yaman ) from*yamīn- ( “ right-hand side; southward ” ) . Cognate withHebrew שְׂמֹאל ( s'mól ,“ left ” ) ,Akkadian 𒆏 ( šumēlum ,“ left side ” ) ,Aramaic סְמָלָא ܣܡܠܐ ( semālā ,“ left side ” ) ,Ugaritic 𐎌𐎎𐎀𐎍 ( šmảl ) . The northern sense derives from the left-hand side oriented with the sunrise, also attested inOld South Arabian 𐩦𐩱𐩣 ( s²ʾm ,“ North ” ) .
The “Greater Syria, the Levant” sense is anellipsis ofبِلَاد الشَّام ( bilād aš-šām ) .
الشَّام • (aš-šām ) f
Damascus capital city ofSyria ancient capital of various polities, most notably theUmayyad Caliphate CE Aram-Damascus , existing from the 12th to 8th centuriesBCE Synonym: دِمَشْق ( dimašq ) الشَّام القَدِيمَةaš-šām al-qadīmaOld Damascus Declension of nounالشَّام aš-šām ) singular basic singulartriptote indefinite definite construct informal — الشَّام aš-šām — nominative — الشَّامُ aš-šāmu — accusative — الشَّامَ aš-šāma — genitive — الشَّامِ aš-šāmi —
الشَّام • (aš-šām ) m
Levant cultural region ofWest Asia Mediterranean countries, i.e.Syria ,Lebanon ,Israel ,Palestine ,Jordan andCyprus )Synonym: بِلَاد الشَّام ( bilād aš-šām ) Declension of nounالشَّام aš-šām ) singular basic singulartriptote indefinite definite construct informal — الشَّام aš-šām — nominative — الشَّامُ aš-šāmu — accusative — الشَّامَ aš-šāma — genitive — الشَّامِ aš-šāmi —
South Levantine Arabic [ edit ] FromArabic الشَّام ( aš-šām ) .
الشام • (iš-šām ) f
Damascus capital city ofSyria ancient capital of various polities, most notably theUmayyad Caliphate CE Aram-Damascus , existing from the 12th to 8th centuriesBCE Synonym: ( formal ) دمشق ( dimašq ) بلاد الشام ( blād iš-šām ,“ Syria; Levant ” ) شامي ( šāmi ,“ Damascene; Levantine ” ) 
