Damascus

Meaning

The capital city of Syria; an ancient settlement, the ancient capital of various polities, most notably the Umayyad Caliphate from 661 to 744 CE and Aram-Damascus, existing from the 12th to 8th centuries BCE.

Synonyms

Dimash

capital of Syria

Translations

Damas

Damasco

Damascus

Damasco

Damaskus

Damasc

دمشق

Δαμασκός

Şam

Damasco

Şam

الشام

Damascus

Damascus

Pronounced as (IPA)

/dəˈmæskəs/

Etymology

Cognate with Hebrew: דַּמֶּשֶׂק

In summary

From Latin Dāmascus, from Ancient Greek Δαμασκός (Damaskós), from a Semitic form akin to Hebrew דַּמֶּשֶׂק. Doublet of Dimashq.
The etymology of the ancient name Damascus is uncertain. It is attested as Imerišú (𒀲𒋙) in Akkadian, T-m-ś-q (𓍘𓄟𓊃𓈎𓅱) in Egyptian, Dammaśq (𐡃𐡌𐡔𐡒) in Old Aramaic and Dammeśeq (דַּמֶּשֶׂק) in Biblical Hebrew. A number of Akkadian spellings are found in the Amarna letters, from the 14th century BC: Dimasqa (𒁲𒈦𒋡), Dimàsqì (𒁲𒈦𒀸𒄀), and Dimàsqa (𒁲𒈦𒀸𒋡).