عمم

Core meaning

The uncle and the aunt on the father's side.

Uses

1. أَعْمَام → "paternal uncles" : the brothers of the father.

   • «أَوْ بُيُوتِ أَعْمَٰمِكُمْ» — "or the houses of your paternal uncles" (24:61)

2. عَمَّات → "paternal aunts" : the sisters of the father.

   • «وَأَخَوَٰتُكُمْ وَعَمَّٰتُكُمْ وَخَٰلَٰتُكُمْ» — "your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts" (4:23)

Evidence from the text

The five uses are lists of kinship, always paired with the uncle and the aunt on the mother's side: the women one is forbidden to marry (4:23), the houses where one may eat without discomfort (24:61), the cousins the Informant may marry (33:50). The word names only the bond through the father.

Distinctions

• خول — the uncle and the aunt on the mother's side, always named alongside