-And Tad excerpted:
According to Webster's Dictionary:
"amen -- used to express solemn ratification (as of an expression of
faith)
or hearty approval (as of an assertion)" .
-Let me roughly translate my dictionary. I'dd add Phonetics, use slashes
to indicate two meanings of the same word, and omit examples and
expressions.
Amen <axm`ehn> 1. [from A.M.N.] Truth, trust\confidence.
2. So will be! So will take place.
A.M.N. [common stem in many semite tongues as a verb or as a name in the
basic meaning: be strong, permanent, stable]
---AND MY POINT IS---
The stem A.M.N. appears in all 7 verb conjugations, with various
meanings, e.g. raise, educate, bind, educated, loyal, true, found
reliable, fully suit\fit, train, trained, believe, confirm, etc. etc.
etc.
There're also derived nouns, like amana <approximately aamaxn'ax> =
convention.
All those are used for daily speech, with no exculsive religious
connotations.
Like the Japanese Buddhists who've drawn the Buddhistic lion without
ever seeing a lion, Christians use amen without knowing its secular
meaning.
Ah, what the heck.
Lior.