# origin of סתם



## rolmich

Hello everybody,
Can you tell me what is the origin of this word.
Thanks in advance for your help.

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Moderator edit: title fixed.


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## Drink

Looks like a typo for סתם. I think it comes from the verb סָתַם, which means "to close/seal".


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## rolmich

I meant "stam" (sorry, I am not used to the hebrew keyboard).
In english : just, merely, for no particular reason.


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## Drink

rolmich said:


> I meant "stam" (sorry, I am not used to the hebrew keyboard).
> In english : just, merely, for no particular reason.



Yes, that's what I thought. I think "stam" comes from the same root as the verb "satam".


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## rolmich

I'll give a few examples :
_This policeman stopped me and demanded an identification_* stam* = with no particular reason.
_Is this an alert ? No its *stam* a drill _= just/only a drill.
To a cheeky child : _Why did you do this? _Cheeky child (generally with a shrug of the shoulders) : *stam = *because I felt like it/none of your business.
I repeat my question : where does *stam *comes from?


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## bazq

The postulated origin of this adverb is as Drink pointed out - the root ס-ת-מ.
The basic meaning of the root is "to close/clog/block" and perhaps gave rise to a derived meaning "without reasoning", like when something is "sealed" nothing gets through. 
"חידה סתומה" is a riddle whose solution is unknown, not understandable (the solution/reasoning cannot "get through").
It's easier to see the connection when thinking of this example. Obviously the adverb "stam" gained significant semantic and pragmatic meanings which deviate from the core meaning of the root (quite a natural process in languages).


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## rolmich

Difficult to see a connection between the state of my house pipes (or also of my arteries) and the words "just/merely/for no particular reason".... 
"Deviate from the core meaning of the root" is an understatement!
Anyway thanks both of you for your help.


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## hadronic

It's not different from English "just", whose meaning drifted from "fair, lawful" to "true, corect" to "only, merely"...  This happens in all languages


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## rolmich

And the french "juste" which has the same two meanings.


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## hadronic

Does סתם appear in the Bible with this meaning? Also, is it a word you can use in all situations? Morphix says it is colloquial in all its meanings.


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## amikama

סתם is at least Mishnaic/Talmudic (although the root ס-ת-מ is found in the Bible).


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