مجدل

Arabic

Etymology

Tool noun from the root ج د ل (j-d-l) related to things being woven strong, to be strong or compact or borrowed from Aramaic מִגְדְּלָא (migdəlā, “tower”) / ܡܰܓܕܠܳܐ (magdəlā, “tower”), since this word has been widespread across Aramaic dialects and other Arabic terms for fortresses are borrowed too, as بَلَاط (balāṭ), بُرْج (burj), قَصْر (qaṣr), possibly also حِصْن (ḥiṣn). There is also a native form with a similar semantic range جَنْدَل (jandal, “boulder, mass of rocks, rock outcropping; a place with strong defenses, fortress”) from the same root. Cognates are seen in Hebrew מִגְדָּל (migdāl, “tower”), Moabite 𐤌𐤂𐤃𐤋 (mgdl, “tower”), Ugaritic 𐎎𐎂𐎄𐎍 (mgdl) and 𐎎𐎄𐎂𐎍 (mdgl, “tower”, or of uncertain meaning), Minaean 𐩣𐩴𐩵𐩡 (mgdl, “tower”), and possibly Akkadian 𒈠𒀜𒂵𒆷𒌅 (madgaltu, “watchtower”). The Akkadian however appears only from Middle Assyrian, so a borrowing from Northwest Semitic into Akkadian too is considered, yet nothing is proven; alternatively it is from another root 𒅆𒅅 (/⁠dagālu⁠/, “to look”) hence a place to look from, a watchtower.

Noun

مِجْدَل • (mijdal) m (plural مَجَادِل (majādil)) (obsolete)

1. palace, fortress, citadel

Declension

Declension of noun مِجْدَل (mijdal)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مِجْدَل mijdal	الْمِجْدَل al-mijdal	مِجْدَل mijdal
Nominative	مِجْدَلٌ mijdalun	الْمِجْدَلُ al-mijdalu	مِجْدَلُ mijdalu
Accusative	مِجْدَلًا mijdalan	الْمِجْدَلَ al-mijdala	مِجْدَلَ mijdala
Genitive	مِجْدَلٍ mijdalin	الْمِجْدَلِ al-mijdali	مِجْدَلِ mijdali
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مِجْدَلَيْن mijdalayn	الْمِجْدَلَيْن al-mijdalayn	مِجْدَلَيْ mijdalay
Nominative	مِجْدَلَانِ mijdalāni	الْمِجْدَلَانِ al-mijdalāni	مِجْدَلَا mijdalā
Accusative	مِجْدَلَيْنِ mijdalayni	الْمِجْدَلَيْنِ al-mijdalayni	مِجْدَلَيْ mijdalay
Genitive	مِجْدَلَيْنِ mijdalayni	الْمِجْدَلَيْنِ al-mijdalayni	مِجْدَلَيْ mijdalay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَجَادِل majādil	الْمَجَادِل al-majādil	مَجَادِل majādil
Nominative	مَجَادِلُ majādilu	الْمَجَادِلُ al-majādilu	مَجَادِلُ majādilu
Accusative	مَجَادِلَ majādila	الْمَجَادِلَ al-majādila	مَجَادِلَ majādila
Genitive	مَجَادِلَ majādila	الْمَجَادِلِ al-majādili	مَجَادِلِ majādili

References

• “mgdl”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1880) De vocabulis in antiquis Arabum carminibus et in Corano peregrinis‎^[1] (in Latin), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 6
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 236–237
• Kogan, Leonid (2015) Genealogical Classification of Semitic. The Lexical Isoglosses, Berlin: Walter de Gruyter, →ISBN, page 364
• Olmo Lete, Gregorio del with Sanmartín, Joaquín and Watson, Wilfred G. E. (2015) “mdgl”, in A Dictionary of the Ugaritic Language in the Alphabetic Tradition (Handbook of Oriental Studies; 112), 3rd edition, Leiden: Brill, →ISBN, page 524