hamza

American

[hahm-zah] / ˈhɑm zɑ /

noun

the sign used in Arabic writing to represent the glottal stop, usually written above another letter and shown in English transliterations as an apostrophe.

hamza British

/ ˈhɑːmzɑː, -zə /

noun

the sign used in Arabic to represent the glottal stop

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of hamza

First recorded in 1935–40, hamza is from the Arabic word ḥamzah literally, a squeezing together

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

hamza

For this hamza, ya is often used, as here.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam

C. writes buyi with two yas, and hamza on the first.

From The Sufistic Quatrains of Omar Khayyam by Omar Khayyam

When the grains are large, it is called hamza.

From Travels in Morocco, Volume 2. by James Richardson

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023