Aziz

Aziz

Aziz (Arabic: عزيز, ʿazīz, [ʕaziːz]) (Hebrew: עזיז) is a Semitic Hebrew, Aramaic and Arabic male name. In Arabic the feminine form of both the adjective and the given name is Aziza. In Hebrew and Aramaic Aziz is derived from the root עזז meaning "strong, powerful". In Arabic it is derived from the root ʕ-z-z, again meaning "strong, powerful", while the adjective has also acquired the meaning of "dear, darling, precious" in both Arabic and Aramaic. In the Old Testament Aziz was the son of Shema and the father of Bela. In the Latinised form "Azizus" it is attested as the name of one of the Arab Priest-Kings who ruled Emesa (the modern Homs, Syria) as clients of the Roman Empire. In ancient Levantine mythology, Azizos or Aziz is the Palmyrene Aramean and Arab god of the morning star. The Arabian goddess Al-Uzza, also related to the planet Venus, is named from the same root ʕ-z-z. Al-Aziz is one of the names of God in Islam. The "Al" makes the word "Aziz" proper. "Aziz" without "Al" is used as a royal title borne by the high nobles of Egypt, being a title borne by the prophet Joseph in the Quranic Surah-e-Yusuf, and also by the Biblical Potiphar, referred to in the Quran as Aziz. It is used in existing Semitic languages such as Arabic, Assyrian Neo Aramaic, Mandic, Hebrew and Maltese and has also spread to non-Semitic languages like Turkish, Kurdish, Armenian, Azerbaijani, Persian, Urdu, Berber, Pashtu, Punjabi, Gujarati, Dari, Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen, Uzbek, Uyghur, Balochi, Bengali, Somali, Indonesian, Chechen, Circassian and Malaysian. Aziz is a common masculine given name, especially in the Muslim world but it has also continued to be used by non-Muslim- non Arab peoples in the Middle East, e.g. Israelis, Assyrians, Arameans, Maronites and Mandeans.

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