ס־מ־תس م ت

s-m-t “way, direction”

Arabic samt 'way, direction' gave two words of astronomy: samt ar-raʾs, 'the direction of the head', where a Latin misreading of m as ni made zenith; and the plural as-sumūt, 'the directions', azimuth. The Hebrew letters only transcribe the Arabic root.

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Today2 of 2 words have reached English

25 hops. The slider moves through them evenly, so busy centuries get room.

Words from this root 2

zenithArabic → Medieval Latin → Middle English → English
azimuthArabic → Old French → Middle English → English

Relatives outside the atlas

Arabic	سَمْت	samt	“way, direction; bearing”
Arabic	سَمْت الرَّأْس	samt ar-raʾs	“zenith, 'direction of the head'”
Arabic	سُمُوت	sumūt	“directions, bearings”
Arabic	نَظِير السَّمْت	naẓīr as-samt	“nadir, 'counterpart of the zenith'”