ספיר

Hebrew

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Assyrian Akkadian šipirtu (“lapis lazuli”) (spelled ṣipirtu in the dictionaries), whence the Semitic root *š-p-r. See the discussion in Ayil (2024) below.

Cognates include Ugaritic spr (“lapis lazuli”), Egyptian t̠frr(t) (“lapis lazuli”), Ancient Greek σάπφειρος (sáppheiros, “lapis lazuli”), and Sanskrit शनिप्रिय (śanipriya, “lapis lazuli”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈpir/

Noun

סַפִּיר • (sapír) m (plural indefinite סַפִּירִים)

1. (countable) sapphire (a clear deep blue variety of corundum, valued as a precious stone)
2. (Biblical) a kind of stone, probably lapis lazuli
3. anything shiny and expensive

Proper noun

סַפִּיר • (sapír) m or f

1. a male or female given name, Sapir, equivalent to English Sapphire
2. a surname

Etymology 2

Root
ס־פ־ר (s-p-r)
18 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /saˈfir/

Adjective

סָפִיר • (safír) (feminine סְפִירָה, masculine plural סְפִירִים, feminine plural סְפִירוֹת) [pattern: קָטִיל]

1. countable, numerable

References

• Ayil, Ephraim S. (2024). "Chapter 7 סַפִּיר Sappīr—Lapis Lazuli". In Identifying the Stones of Classical Hebrew. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004678002_008
• “ספיר” in the Hebrew Terms Database of the Academy of Hebrew Language

Further reading

• ספיר on the Hebrew Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^he

Anagrams

• סיפר
• פרסי