H2256 חֶבֶל chebel → Derivative
12 languagesDerivative of root חבל — canonical: H2254 חָבַל (9 family members).
A length of cord or rope, typically twisted, used for binding, measuring, or marking boundaries. By extension, the term refers to a measured portion of land or region (territorial allotment), and figuratively to the concept of fate or appointed share. It also extends metaphorically to denote pain or suffering (especially labor pains), bands of people, and destructive forces or ruin in poetic contexts.
Etymology
חֶבֶל derives from the root חבל, which means 'to bind, tie, pledge, act corruptly, destroy.' The core meaning of the root involves twisting or binding, which gives rise to the noun form referring to a rope or cord. The semantic extension to 'territorial portion' comes from the use of ropes/cables to measure or mark boundaries on the land, leading further to the figurative senses of assigned portion, fate, or share of experience. The sense of throes or pangs (especially of labor) seems to derive from the constricting or binding tension of ropes, metaphorically transferred to the experience of pain.
Reflexes · not yet grouped by proto-form
| Language | Word | Meaning | Segmentation | Root |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bemba | akamba | small rope, string | -kamb- | |
| Chichewa | kamba | rope, cord | -kamb- | |
| Kaonde | lukamba | rope | -kamb- | |
| Kikuyu | gamba | rope | -kamb-/-gamb- | |
| Kinyarwanda | umukamba | rope | -kamb- | |
| Kirundi | ikamba | rope, string | -kamb- | |
| Lozi | likamba | rope (twisted) | -kamb- | |
| Luba-Kasai (Tshiluba) | dikamba | rope | -kamb- | |
| Luganda | kamba | rope, cord | -kamb- | |
| Swahili | kamba | rope, cord, string (typically twisted, made from plant fiber) | kamb | |
| Tonga (Zambia) | likamba | rope, cord | -kamb- | |
| Umbundu | okakamba | small rope, string | -kamb- |