pān šattim (Akkadian)
Where does "pān šattim" come from?
The Akkadian term 'pān šattim,' meaning 'spring,' is a compound phrase derived from 'pān,' meaning the 'front part,' and 'šattim,' meaning 'of the year.' By combining these roots, the phrase poetically identifies spring as the 'front of the year.' These components trace back to Proto-Semitic roots that are also distantly related to words for face and time in other ancient languages like Hebrew and Arabic.
Full etymology tree
- pān šattim (Akkadian), 'spring'
- compound pān (Akkadian)
- derived pānum (Akkadian), 'front, front part'
- inherited *pan- (Proto-Semitic)
- derived pānum (Akkadian), 'front, front part'
- compound šattim (Akkadian)
- derived šattum (Akkadian), 'year'
- inherited *šanat- (Proto-Semitic), 'year'
- derived šattum (Akkadian), 'year'
- compound pān (Akkadian)
Ancestors
- pānum (Akkadian)
- šattum (Akkadian)
Updated June 2026
Etymology data from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · About Miraris