Khem

Meaning

Proper Noun

• Letopolis
• the Egyptian god Min
• Egypt

Origin

• From Egyptian ḫm ("Letopolis").
• From a 19th-century misreading of Egyptian mnw ("Min") as ḫm; the confusion arose because the hieroglyph R22 can function as both a logogram for mnw and a phonogram for ḫm.
• From Ancient Greek Χημία or , both ultimately from Egyptian kmt ("Egypt"). The final vowels were apparently dropped to form a closer match to the Biblical Ham. First attested in 1837.