أ ی مʾ-y-m
(ض) أَيَمَ يَأْيِمُayama yaʾyimu (original form) ⟵ آمَ يَئِيمُ أَيْمًا وَأَيْمَةًāma yaʾīmu ayman wa-ʾaymatan: to be left without a spouse.
أَيِّمayyim (pattern (wazn) فَيْعِلfayʿil): a man or woman without a spouse — used alike for the unmarried, the widowed and the divorced. Plural: أَيَامٰىayāmā; there are two views on its morphology: (1) the original form was أَيَائِمayāʾim, which became أَيَامٰىayāmā by metathesis; (2) it is a plural directly on the pattern فَعَالٰىfaʿālā, like يَتِيمyatīm ⟵ يَتَامٰىyatāmā; moreover, being of the pattern of ultimate plurals (ṣīghat muntahā al-jumūʿ), originally it is a diptote (ghayr munṣarif). ﴿وَاَنْكِحُوا الْاَيَامٰى مِنْكُمْ﴾ (An-Nūr 24:32)