Hamam
/hæˈmæm/noun
A public bathhouse, especially one associated with Middle Eastern or Ottoman Turkish tradition.
Did you know?Hamams were not merely places to wash: in many Islamic societies, they supported ritual purification before prayer and became important centers of communal life.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Semitic
Proto-Semitic
*ḥ-m-m
“To be hot or warm; the reconstructed root behind later words for heat and heated bathing.”
Classical Arabic
Arabic
ḥammā
“A hot spring or naturally heated place.”
Medieval Arabic
Arabic
ḥammām
“A heated bathhouse, formed from the root associated with heat.”
Ottoman Period
Ottoman Turkish
hamam
“A public bathhouse, commonly built with heated rooms and supplied with water.”
17th Century
English
hammam
“An English loanword for a Turkish or Middle Eastern bathhouse.”
Modern English
English
hamam
“A variant spelling of hammam, referring to a traditional public bathhouse.”