Editing Lilith (section)

== Etymology ==
In the [[Akkadian language|Akkadian]] language of Assyria and Babylonia, the terms {{Transliteration|akk|lili}} and {{Transliteration|akk|līlītu}} mean spirits. Some uses of {{Transliteration|akk|līlītu}} are listed in the [[Chicago Assyrian Dictionary|Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago]] (CAD, 1956, L.190), in [[Wolfram von Soden]]'s ''[[Akkadisches Handwörterbuch]]'' (AHw, p.&nbsp;553), and ''[[Reallexikon der Assyriologie]]'' (RLA, p.&nbsp;47).<ref>Ebeling, Erich; Meissner, Bruno; Edzard, Dietz Otto ''Reallexikon der Assyriologie'' Vol. 9, pp. 47, 50. De Gruyter.</ref>

The [[Sumer]]ian female demons {{Transliteration|sux|lili}} have no etymological relation to Akkadian {{Transliteration|akk|lilu}}, "evening".<ref>Astour, Michael C. (1965) ''Hellenosemitica: an ethnic and cultural study in west Semitic impact on Mycenaean. Greece''. Brill. p. 138.</ref>

[[Archibald Sayce]] (1882)<ref name="Sayce"/>{{Page needed|date=September 2010}} considered that the Hebrew and the earlier Akkadian names are derived from [[Proto-Semitic language|Proto-Semitic]]. [[Charles Fossey]] (1902) has this literally translating to "female night being/demon", although [[cuneiform script|cuneiform]] inscriptions from [[Mesopotamia]] exist where ''Līlīt'' and ''Līlītu'' refers to disease-bearing wind spirits.<ref name="Fossey"/><ref>{{cite book |last=Fossey |first=Charles |title=La magie assyrienne; étude suivie de textes magiques, transcrits, traduits, et commentés |location=Paris |publisher=E. Leroux |date=1902 |page=37 |url=https://archive.org/details/lamagieassyrienn00fossuoft/page/36/mode/1up |language=French |quote=Le ''lilú'', la ''lilît'' et l'''ardat lili'', un mâle et deux femelles, formant une trinité de démons que les textes ne séparent guère. Ils personnifient les forces perturbatrices de l'atmosphère...}}</ref>