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Bit confused about the translation of si lom, which I understand translates to "windmill".

 

But I have been told that si lom (สีลม) also translates to "four winds".

 

If I google "four winds in thai language" it returns si tit (สี่ทิศ) which I believe means "four directions". That makes sense I guess, given how "four winds" tends to be used in English.

 

Am I right to assume that si lom means both windmill and four winds, depending on the context?

 

Thanks, Jim

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Silom mean colour windy

 

สีลม ความหมายคือ สีของลม

 

สี่ลม ความหมายคือลมที่มาจาà¸à¸ªà¸µà¹ˆà¸—ิศ

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That's interesting I actually wrote " colour " and spelt it that way using the English version. Checking out how Google would translate ..

 

It corrected my spelling " color " Why ? :)

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สี - rising tone

 

สี่ - low tone

 

Different words and not "four winds".

 

 

Thanks for the help.

 

The low tone si ~ สี่ is four.

The rising tone si ~ สี is colour.

 

Si Lom as in the street name actually translates as "colour windy" or something like that, but means windmill. Correct? After watching the video, that makes perfect sense.

 

Am I right that I could put together the words สี่ and ลม to express the term "four winds"? For example, if I wanted to name a longboat Four Winds with the translation (สี่ลม), would it work without sounding completely ridiculous to a Thai ear?

 

Your patience is much appreciated.

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The word สี is indeed color, however it also carries the following other meanings too;

1. color; colors; paint

1b. [is] colored; painted; [of] paint

2a. to rub against; to abrade

3. to mill or hull rice

3b. a rice mill

4. to bow a stringed instrument

 

The word สีลม is usually defined as a wind powered rice mill because that's what they were originally used for here. However it's just called a windmill now. It's almost a literal translation of the word สี using the meaning "to rub against" and ลม "wind" or a machine which rubs against the wind.

 

This is from the Royal Institute dictionary; เครื่องสำหรับหมุนบดข้าวเปลือà¸à¹ƒà¸«à¹‰à¹€à¸›à¸¥à¸·à¸­à¸à¹à¸•à¸à¹€à¸›à¹‡à¸™à¸‚้าวà¸à¸¥à¹‰à¸­à¸‡.

 

Googling the history of ถนนสีลม Silom Road shows;

ถนนสีลมสร้างขึ้นในสมัยรัชà¸à¸²à¸¥à¸—ี่ 4 พร้อม ๆ à¸à¸±à¸šà¸–นนเจริà¸à¸à¸£à¸¸à¸‡ ถนนบำรุงเมือง à¹à¸¥à¸°à¸–นนเฟื่องนคร เดิมเรียà¸à¸Šà¸·à¹ˆà¸­à¸§à¹ˆà¸² "ถนนขวาง" เดิมเป็นคันดินที่เà¸à¸´à¸”จาà¸à¸à¸²à¸£à¸‚ุดคลองเพื่อเชื่อมคลองบางรัà¸à¸à¸±à¸šà¸„ลองถนนตรง คันดินจึงà¸à¸¥à¸²à¸¢à¹€à¸›à¹‡à¸™à¸–นนที่เรียà¸à¸à¸±à¸™à¸§à¹ˆà¸²à¸–นนขวาง ชาวต่างประเทศได้นำเครื่อง สีลม ซึ่งใช้สำหรับà¸à¸²à¸£à¸§à¸´à¸”น้ำมาติดตั้งที่ถนนขวาง โดยที่บริเวณทั่วไปยังเป็นทุ่งนาโล่ง เครื่องสีลมวิดน้ำจึงดูเด่นà¹à¸¥à¸°à¸à¸¥à¸²à¸¢à¹€à¸›à¹‡à¸™à¸Šà¸·à¹ˆà¸­à¹€à¸£à¸µà¸¢à¸à¸‚องถนนมาถึงปัจจุบัน

 

It says that foreigners ชาวต่างประเทศ imported ได้นำ a wind powered water pump and installed it in the area that is now called Silom. The windmill water pump was the focal point and people started referring to the area as Silom, nowadays it's the name of the road.

 

On the wiki page there's a pic of a wind mill sculpture on Silom (notice how it's over water because as I said originally it was a wind powered water pump)

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  • 2 weeks later...

Thanks tod-daniels,

 

Interesting post, and helpful to understand the translation and its history.

 

Showed สี่ลม to a new Thai friend and asked if it could mean "four winds" if I wanted to use it as a name for a boat.

 

He said I could, but perhaps in a way that suggested I could do anything I wanted translation-wise without fear of going to jail.

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