Etymology of the word “Amen”

By: D. Messaoudi

The word “Amen” (Hebrew: ‫ אמֵן‬, Arabic: ‫ ) آميين‬is found in three religions: Judaism, Christianity, and
Islam. It is usually uttered at the end of a prayer to confirm what has been said before, meaning
therefore “so be it”, “truly”, “let it be so”. But what is its origin, linguistically speaking?

The word is commonly said to be of a Hebrew origin. It is the Grecian theologians who introduced it in
Western languages after the translation of the Bible. Then, it is adopted by the Arabs as it is used in
the Koran revealed to their prophet in Arabic. But the problem is that in none of these languages
(Hebrew, Arabic, Greek) can be found contemporarily the least trace of the word “Amen”. The only
language – and we never thought of it though it is as ancient as the two first ones – which offers us a
clear explanation and confirms the meaning of “Amen” as it is stated above, is the Berber language.

In Kabyle (one of the various dialects of Berber), there is the phrase “am-in” that means
synchronically, in common speech, “like that”. However, if we put “am-in” in the context of a prayer, it
will clearly mean “so be it”; with “it” referring here to what has been said before. Notice the following
example: “ad ig Rebbi yedder! Am-in” (May he live! Amen; i.e. may what has been said come true).

The Berber term “in”, meaning the one who/which, is attested in today’s Touareg dialects which are
well-known for their preservation of the most ancient phenomena related to the Berber language. It is
the allomorph of the Kabyle non-annexed form “win”.

Links to sites dealing with the word “Amen”:

www.simplybible.com.au
www.en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amen
www.touregypt.net/amen.htm