Akkadian

emūḳu - strength (CAD E 157, AHw. 216)

Cf. Ugaritic ˁmḳ ‘tough, strong’

Areal reconstruction
*ˁmḳ - to be strong (Kogan 2015:333)

The origin of Akk.-Ugr. *ˁmḳ ‘to be strong’ is uncertain. Hypothetical WS cognates with the meaning “strength” (notably, Hbr. ˁēmäḳ) are quite doubtful (with HALOT 849 and contra Greenfield 1967:89). Somewhat more promising are Tgr. ˁammäḳä ‘to rob, to defraud’ (WTS 456), Amh. ammäḳä ‘to oppress, to rule by force’. There is no transparent semantic link between Akk.-Ugr. *ˁmḳ ‘to be strong’ and *ˁmḳ ‘to be deep’. According to CAD E 161, Akk. emūḳu ‘strength’ is, in its origin, an anatomical term (“arm”), but there is no etymological support for this conjecture. (Kogan 2015:333)