Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 0 in the Quran · 42 in 14 texts of the library

أونGentleness, ease, unhurriedness — per Ibn Fāris, hamza-nūn is one root denoting rifq. (root wn)

الهمزة والنون كلمة واحدة تدل على الرفق

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

أون

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

The words of أ و ن that our sources attest: the root's letters in green, the added letters in gold.

10 words3 verbs1 verbal noun1 place or instrument4 other nouns1 plural

  • آنَhe was, or became, at rest, or at ease
  • آئِنman enjoying a life of ease and plenty
  • أَوَانtime
  • آوِنَةtimes
  • اَوَّنَ—
The whole family5 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs3آنَ · اَوَّنَ · تَاَوَّنَ

The root as an action: the bare Form I, and the Forms made by adding letters before, inside or after the root.grammar →

  • آنَhe was, or became, at rest, or at easeLaneForm ILaneIbn Fāris
  • اَوَّنَLane: see Form IForm IILaneIbn Fāris
  • تَاَوَّنَLane: see Form IForm VLane
Verbal nouns1أَوْن

The action itself, named as a noun (maṣdar).grammar →

Place, time and instrument1مَؤُونَة

Where or when it happens, and what it is done with: the m- nouns.grammar →

  • مَؤُونَةnoun of place (with -a)Lane
Other nouns4آئِن · أَوَان · إِوَان

Nouns on other patterns; their meaning is learned word by word.grammar →

  • آئِنman enjoying a life of ease and plentyLanenounLaneIbn Fāris
  • أَوَانtimeLanenounLane
  • إِوَانnounLane
  • إِيوَانnounLane
Plurals1آوِنَة

Broken plurals rebuild the word on a new pattern; sound plurals add an ending.grammar →

  • آوِنَةtimesfrom the singularbroken plural of أَوَانLane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 7 patterns does

What each pattern does. The pattern gives a tendency, not a rule: many words have drifted into meanings of their own.

The pattern machinePour the root into a pattern; see whether the word exists

Choose a pattern; the root's letters pour into it. Then see whether the word exists in our sources. The machine makes shapes; only usage makes words.

مَفْعَلَةأ و نمَأْوَنَة
  • Attested: مَؤُونَة, noun of place (with -a) (Lane)

Place noun with -a. The place noun with the feminine -a. Sometimes it is only a variant of mafʿal; often it names the place where a thing is found in abundance (maʾsada, 'a place full of lions'). So maktab is the place of writing, and maktaba, where writings are gathered: a library, a bookshop. Our summary

But: maktaba is not in our classical dictionaries for k-t-b: Lane and al-Jawharī give maktab ('a school'), none gives maktaba. Its sense of 'library, bookshop' fits the pattern of abundance, but that is our reading of the pattern, not a classical entry. Many mafʿala words are single items of usage (maqbara 'cemetery'), which the grammarians call heard, not formed by rule.

The grammarians on this pattern (4)

  • ما يكون مفعلة لازمة لها الهاء والفتحة … وذلك إذا أردت أن تكثر الشيء بالمكان، وذلك قولك: أرض مسبعة، ومأسدة

    Chapter on what is mafʿala, with the -a and the a-vowel always: that is when you mean that a thing abounds in a place, as you say 'a land of many beasts of prey (masbaʿa), of many lions (maʾsada)'

    Sībawayh (d. c. 180/796), al-Kitāb, ed. ʿAbd al-Salām Hārūn, 3rd ed. (Cairo: al-Khānjī, 1988), 4:94 · OpenITI line 21027–21028 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • و نحو المظنة و المقبرة فتحا و ضما ليس بقياس

    and words like maẓinna and maqbara (with a or u) are not by rule

    Ibn al-Ḥājib (d. 646/1249), al-Shāfiya fī ʿilm al-taṣrīf, ed. Ḥasan Aḥmad al-ʿUthmān (Mecca: al-Maktaba al-Makkiyya, 1995), 1:30 · OpenITI line 223 ↗ · on this site · OpenITI RELEASE v2025.1.9, CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

  • “designate the place where the object signified by the noun from which they are formed, is found in large numbers or quantities” Wright, Grammar I, §247, p. 148 ↗ · on nouns of abundance, maf'ala · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain
  • “Nouns of time and place not unfrequently take the feminine form” Wright, Grammar I, §225, p. 128 ↗ · on maf'ala as a variant of maf'al · 3rd ed. (Cambridge, 1896) · public domain

This root has a weak or doubled letter, so real words change shape (qāla → qāʾil, not qāwil); the machine pours the letters in as they are, and matches attested words by their regular pattern.

About thisWhat “attested” means here; the sources

Attested means found in our data: the Quranic Arabic Corpus (lemmas, verb Forms, participles, verbal nouns, plurals), the library's words (automatic analysis), Lane's Lexicon (his headwords, the Forms he numbers, the verbal nouns and plurals he names) and Ibn Fāris's entry. Nothing is generated for this list. Meanings are Lane's first gloss in his entry, or else the analyser's gloss (“auto”). Vowelling follows the corpus, then Lane, then the analyser; verbs are given in the regular perfect. Lane's Lexicon thins out after qāf, and a few of his entries cover several roots at once: those roots show no Lane. The patterns, written with ف ع ل, are computed by us.

The dictionaries

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Al-awnān (الأونان): the two sides of the saddlebag (khurj).

    al-Khalīl b. Aḥmad (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn. The first Arabic dictionary, arranged by permutations of the root letters.

    Al-awnān (الأونان): the two sides of the saddlebag (khurj). One says: 'a saddlebag with two awn (خرج ذو أونين).' Al-awnān (الأونان) also means the two loads (al-ʿidlān), as does al-awānān (الأوانان). It is said of the she-donkey, when she nears foaling and her belly grows large: qad awwanat taʾwīnan (قد أونت تأوينا). And when [an animal] has eaten and drunk and its flanks have swelled, one says awwanat taʾwīnan (أونت تأوينا). [A poet, no. 92] said: 'Secretly, while she swelled (awwana taʾwīn) like the pregnant she-camels (al-ʿuqaq)' Al-ʿuqaq (العقق) is [a she-camel] whose pregnancy has become evident, the ʿaqīqa (العقيقة) having grown over her young within her belly. Al-awān (الأوان) means 'the time, the season'; you say jāʾa awān al-bard (جاء أوان البرد), 'the time of cold has come.' Al-ʿAjjāj [no. 93] said: 'This is the time (awān) of earnest striving, when ʿUmar grew serious' The plural of al-awān (الأوان) is āwina (آونة). Al-āna (الآن, 'now') is like al-sāʿa (الساعة, 'the hour'), except that al-sāʿa is a fixed portion of the divisions of night and day, whereas al-āna is bound to the [particular] hour in which speech and affairs occur, for as long as they begin and cease. The Arabs put it in the accusative form regardless of whether the [grammatical] position is genitive, accusative, or nominative, because it does not fully decline: it is not made dual, nor pluralized [lit. 'tripled'], nor diminutivized, nor does it take full inflection, nor can anything be added to it in construct (iḍāfa).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    أين: وقت من الأمكنة، تقول: أين فلان؟ فيكون منتصبا في الحالات كلها. وأما الأين من الإعياء فإنه يصرف، وهو يجري مجرى الكلام في كل شيء.. والعرب لا تشتق منه فعلا إلا في الشعر، فقالوا: آن يئين أينا. والإوان: شبه أزج غير مشدود الوجه، والإيوان: لغة فيه، قال: إيوان كسرى ذي القرى والريحان «94» وجماعة الإوان: أون. وجماعة الإيوان: أواوين وإيوانات. تم باب اللفيف من النون، وبه تم باب النون ولا رباعي ولا خماسي له

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 8, p. 404) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-awn (الأون): ease, tranquility, and gentleness.

    al-Jawharī (d. c. 393/1003), al-Ṣiḥāḥ. Admits only usage he judged sound.

    Al-awn (الأون): ease, tranquility, and gentleness. From it one says: anta aʾūnu awnan (أنت أؤون أونا). A man is āʾin (آين, i.e. آئن), meaning at ease and comfortable. Al-awn (الأون) also means slow, gentle walking, and it is a form with a letter substituted from al-hawn (الهون). The rajaz-poet said: 'Change, O daughter of al-Ḥulays, my color (complexion) The passing of nights and the alternation of dark [times] And a journey that had little awn (الاون)' It is said: an ʿalā nafsika (أن على نفسك), meaning 'be gentle in travel and take it easy.' [One says:] 'Between us and Mecca are three nights awāʾin (أوائن),' meaning restful ones, and 'ten nights āʾināt (آينات),' meaning comfortable ones. Al-awn (الأون) [also means] one of the two sides of the saddlebag (khurj); you say: 'a saddlebag with two awn (خرج ذو أونين),' the two being like two loads. Al-awn (الأون) [also means] the load (al-ʿidl). From this comes the saying: awwana al-ḥimār (أون الحمار), 'the donkey awwana,' said when it has eaten and drunk, its belly has filled, and its flanks have stretched so that it becomes like the awn (load). Ruʾba said: 'He whispers, calling sincerely upon the Lord of the Daybreak (rabb al-falaq) Secretly, while [she] swelled (awwana taʾwīn) like the pregnant ones (al-ʿuquq)' He means the plural of al-ʿaqūq (العقوق), the pregnant [she-camel] near to giving birth, like rasūl/rusul (رسول ورسل). Al-awān (الأوان) means 'the time,' its plural being āwina (آونة), like zamān/azmina (زمان وأزمنة). Yaʿqūb said: it is said 'so-and-so does that matter āwina (آونة),' meaning he does it repeatedly, sometimes doing it and sometimes leaving it. Abū Zubayd said: 'One who bears the burdens of loved ones from time to time (āwina) I give them my utmost effort, apart from what I am able' Al-awān (الأوان) and al-īwān (الإيوان) [both mean]: a great vaulted hall (al-ṣiffa al-ʿaẕīma) like al-azaj (الأزج); from this comes Īwān Kisrā (إيوان كسرى, 'the Arch of Chosroes'). And [a poet] said: 'The destination [of travel] grew distant from his people, at al-Īwān' The plural of al-iwān (الإوان) is uwan (أون), like khiwān/khuwan (خوان وخون); the plural of al-īwān (الإيوان) is īwānāt (إيوانات) and awāwīn (أواوين), like dīwān/dawāwīn (ديوان ودواوين), because its origin is iwān (إوان), one of the two wāws having been changed to a yāʾ.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الأون: الدعة والسكينة والرفق. تقول منه: أنت أءون أونا. ورجل آين، أي رافه وادع. والاون أيضا: المشى الرويد، وهو مبدل من الهون. قال الراجز: غير يا بنت الحليس لوني مر الليالي واختلاف الجون وسفر كان قليل الاون ويقال: أن على نفسك، أي ارفق في السير واتدع. وبيننا وبين مكة ثلاث ليال أوائن، أي روافه، وعشر ليال آينات، أي وادعات. والأون: أحد جانبي الخرج. تقول: خرج ذو أونين، وهما كالعدلين. والأون: العدل. ومنه قولهم: أون الحمار، إذا أكل وشرب وامتلأ بطنه وامتدت خاصرتاه فصار مثل الاون. قال رؤبة: وسوس يدعو مخلصا رب الفلق سرا وقد أون تأوين العقق يريد جمع العقوق، وهى الحامل المقرب، مثل رسول ورسل. والاوان (1) : الحين، والجمع آونة، مثل زمان وأزمنة. قال يعقوب: يقال فلان يصنع ذلك الامر آونة (2) ، إذا كان يصنعه مرارا ويدعه مرارا. قال أبو زبيد (3) : حمال أثقال أهل الود آونة أعطيهم الجهد مني بله ما أسع والاوان والايوان: الصفة العظيمة كالأزج ومنه إيوان كسرى. وقال: شطت نوى من أهله بالإيوان * وجمع الإوان أون، مثل خوان وخون، وجمع الايوان إيوانات وأواوين، مثل ديوان مثل ديوان ودواوين، لان أصله إوان، فأبدلت من إحدى الواوين ياء.

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 5, p. 2075) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395The hamza and nūn [as root letters] form a single word indicating gentleness/ease.

    Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004), Maqāyīs al-Lugha. Seeks each root's original sense (aṣl).

    The hamza and nūn [as root letters] form a single word indicating gentleness/ease. One says: āna yaʾūnu awnan (آن يؤون أونا) meaning 'he was gentle, took it easy.' A poet said: — 'And a journey that had little awn (الأون)...' It is said to the traveler: an ʿalā nafsika (أن على نفسك), meaning 'be at ease, take it easy'; [one also says] anta aʾūnu awnan (أنت أؤون أونا), and a man is [described as] āʾin (آئن).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الهمزة والنون كلمة واحدة تدل على الرفق يقال آن يؤون أونا إذا رفق قال شاعر : — وسفر كان قليل الأون … ويقال للمسافر أن على نفسك أي اتدع وأنت أؤون أونا ورجل آئن

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 162) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-awn (الأون): ease, tranquility, and gentleness.

    Ibn Manẓūr (d. 711/1311), Lisān al-ʿArab. The great compendium of the earlier dictionaries (entry shortened).

    Al-awn (الأون): ease, tranquility, and gentleness. [One says] antu bi-l-shayʾi awnan (أنت بالشيء أونا) and antu ʿalayhi (أنت عليه) — both meaning 'I was gentle [with it].' Antu fī l-sayri awnan (أنت في السير أونا): 'I proceeded at ease, without haste.' Antu awnan (أنت أونا): 'I enjoyed comfort and ease.' [One says:] 'Between me and Mecca are ten nights āʾināt (آينات),' meaning comfortable ones — the yāʾ preceding the nūn. Ibn al-Aʿrābī: āna yaʾūnu awnan (آن يؤون أونا) means 'he rested.' He cited: 'Change, O daughter of al-Ḥulays, my color The passing of nights, and the alternation of dark [times] And a journey that had little awn (الأون)' Abū Zayd: antu aʾūnu awnan (أنت أؤون أونا), meaning comfort and ease; and he is āʾin (آئن), on the pattern of fāʿil, meaning comfortable, at ease. It is said: an ʿalā nafsika (أن على نفسك), meaning 'be gentle with it in travel and take it easy'; one also says it to someone acting rashly: an ʿalā nafsika (أن على نفسك), meaning 'calm down.' It is said: awwin ʿalā qadrika (أون على قدرك), meaning 'proceed measuredly according to your capacity,' and one says qad awwana taʾwīnan (قد أون تأوينا). Al-awn (الأون) [also means] slow walking, a form substituted from al-hawn (الهون). Ibn al-Sikkīt: awwinū fī sayrikum (أونوا في سيركم) means 'be moderate in your travel,' from al-awn (الأون), which is gentleness. Qad awwant (أونت) means 'I was moderate.' It is said: 'a comfortable measure (rubʿ āʾin) is better than a rough full one (ʿabb ḥaṣḥāṣ).' Taʾawwana fī l-amr (تأون في الأمر): 'he lingered/delayed in the matter.' Al-awn (الأون) [also means] fatigue and weariness, like al-ayn (الأين). Al-awn (الأون) [also means] the camel. Al-awnān (الأونان): the two flanks, and the two loads that are bound on, and the two sides of the saddlebag (khurj). Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: al-awn (الأون) is the load (al-ʿidl), and [also] the saddlebag in which provisions are placed. He cited: 'I do not seek the affection of one who does not love me, Nor do I follow [merely] for provisions (al-awn), apart from my companion.' Thaʿlab explained it here as meaning gentleness and ease. Al-Jawharī: al-awn (الأون) is one of the two sides of the saddlebag (khurj). [One says:] 'this is a saddlebag with two awn (khurj dhū awnayn),' the two being like two loads. Ibn Barrī said: Dhū al-Rumma said — and it is among the verses cited for subtlety of meaning: 'And a Khayfāʾ [varicolored land] where the lion cast down his forearm, So it pleased and it grieved every herdsman and every one without stock; Through it walks the plump hare (al-darmāʾ), dragging her fat haunches, As though her belly were the belly of a pregnant woman with two awn (awnayn), carrying twins.' Khayfāʾ (خيفاء) refers to land of varied plant-colors that had been watered by the rain-star of Leo (nawʾ al-asad); it pleased the one who had livestock and grieved the one without camels (muṣrim); al-darmāʾ (الدرماء) is the hare — he says it grew fat until it dragged its haunches, as though its belly were the belly of a pregnant woman carrying twins. It is also said: āna yaʾūnu (آن يؤون), meaning 'he rested.' And 'a saddlebag with two awn (khurj dhū awnayn)' is said when both its sides are stuffed full with goods. Al-awān (الأوان) [also means]: the load (al-ʿidl). Al-awānān (الأوانان): the two loads, like al-awnān (الأونان). Al-Rāʿī said: 'She spends the night, her two legs like two awān (awānān) against her rump, Her rump serving as her goad, until her mount grows weary.' Ibn Barrī said: it has also been said that al-awān (الأوان) is one of the poles of the tent. Al-Rāʿī said [the same verse]. Al-Aṣmaʿī said: [the poet] made her rump serve in place of the goad — she drives the camel with her rump when she has no stick with her, moving her rump against it; thus his phrase ʿaṣāhā ustuhā (عصاها استها) means she drives her mount with her rump. It has also been said: al-awānān (الأوانان) means the two bridles (al-lijāmān); and it has also been said: [they are] two vessels... [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    آن الشيء أينا: حان، لغة في أنى، وليس بمقلوب عنه لوجود المصدر؛ وقال: ألما يئن لي أن تجلى عمايتي، ... وأقصر عن ليلى؟ بلى قد أنى ليا فجاء باللغتين جميعا. وقالوا: آن أينك وإينك وآن آنك أي حان حينك، وآن لك أن تفعل كذا يئين أينا؛ عن أبي زيد، أي حان، مثل أنى لك، قال: وهو مقلوب منه. وقالوا: الآن فجعلوه اسما لزمان الحال، ثم وصفوا للتوسع فقالوا: أنا الآن أفعل كذا وكذا، والألف واللام فيه زائدة لأن الاسم معرفة بغيرهما، وإنما هو معرفة بلام أخرى مقدرة غير هذه الظاهرة. ابن سيده: قال ابن جني قوله عز وجل: قالوا الآن جئت بالحق ؛ الذي يدل على أن اللام في الآن زائدة أنها لا تخلو من أن تكون للتعريف كما يظن مخالفنا، أو تكون زائدة لغير التعريف كما نقول نحن، فالذي يدل على أنها لغير التعريف أنا اعتبرنا جميع ما لامه للتعريف، فإذا إسقاط لامه جائز فيه، وذلك نحو رجل والرجل وغلام والغلام، ولم يقولوا افعله آن كما قالوا افعله الآن، فدل هذا على أن اللام فيه ليست للتعريف بل هي زائدة كما يزاد غيرها من الحروف، قال: فإذا ثبت أنها زائدة فقد وجب النظر فيما يعرف به الآن فلن يخلو من أحد وجوه التعريف الخمسة: إما لأنه من الأسماء المضمرة أو من الأسماء الأعلام، أو من الأسماء المبهمة، أو من الأسماء المضافة، أو من الأسماء المعرفة باللام، فمحال أن تكون من الأسماء المضمرة لأنها معروفة محدودة وليست الآن كذلك، ومحال أن تكون من الأسماء الأعلام لأن تلك تخص الواحد بعينه، والآن تقع على كل وقت حاضر لا يخص بعض ذلك دون بعض، ولم يقل أحد إن الآن من الأسماء الأعلام، ومحال أيضا أن تكون من أسماء الإشارة لأن جميع أسماء الإشارة لا تجد في واحد منها لام التعريف، وذلك نحو هذا وهذه وذلك وتلك وهؤلاء وما أشبه ذلك، وذهب أبو إسحق إلى أن الآن إنما تعرفه بالإشارة، وأنه إنما بني لما كانت الألف واللام فيه لغير عهد متقدم، إنما تقول الآن كذا وكذا لمن لم يتقدم لك معه ذكر الوقت الحاضر، فأما فساد كونه من أسماء الإشارة فقد تقدم ذكره، وأما ما اعتل به من أنه إنما بني لأن الألف واللام فيه لغير عهد متقدم ففاسد أيضا، لأنا قد نجد الألف واللام في كثير من الأسماء على غير تقدم عهد، وتلك الأسماء مع كون اللام فيها معارف، وذلك قولك يا أيها الرجل، ونظرت إلى هذا الغلام، قال: فقد بطل بما ذكرنا أن يكون الآن من الأسماء المشار بها، ومحال أيضا أن تكون من الأسماء المتعرفة بالإضافة لأننا لا نشاهد بعده اسما هو مضاف إليه، فإذا بطلت واستحالت الأوجه الأربعة المقدم ذكرها لم يبق إلا أن يكون معرفا باللام نحو الرجل والغلام، وقد دلت الدلالة على أن الآن ليس معرفا باللام الظاهرة التي فيه، لأنه لو كان معرفا بها لجاز سقوطها منه، فلزوم هذه اللام للآن دليل على أنها ليست للتعريف، وإذا كان معرفا باللام لا محالة، واستحال أن تكون اللام فيه هي التي عرفته، وجب أن يكون معرفا بلام أخرى غير هذه الظاهرة التي فيه بمنزلة أمس في أنه تعرف بلام مرادة، والقول فيهما واحد، ولذلك بنيا لتضمنهما معنى حرف التعريف؛ قال ابن جني: وهذا رأي أبي علي وعنه أخذته، وهو الصواب، قال سيبويه: وقالوا الآن آنك، كذا قرأناه في كتاب سيبويه بنصب الآن ورفع آنك، وكذا الآن حد الزمانين، هكذا قرأناه أيضا بالنصب، وقال ابن جني: اللام في قولهم الآن حد الزمانين بمنزلتها في قولك الرجل أفضل من المرأة أي هذا الجنس أفضل من هذا الجنس، فكذلك الآن، إذا رفعه جعله جنس هذا المستعمل في قولهم كنت الآن عنده، فهذا معنى كنت في هذا الوقت الحاضر بعضه، وقد تصرمت أجزاء منه عنده، وبنيت الآن لتضمنها معنى الحرف. وقال أبو عمرو: أتيته آئنة بعد آئنة بمعنى آونة. الجوهري: الآن اسم للوقت الذي أنت فيه، وهو ظرف غير متمكن، وقع معرفة ولم تدخل عليه الألف واللام للتعريف، لأنه ليس له ما يشركه، وربما فتحوا اللام وحذفوا الهمزتين؛ وأنشد الأخفش: وقد كنت تخفي حب سمراء حقبة، ... فبح، لان منها، بالذي أنت بائح قال ابن بري: قوله حذفوا الهمزتين يعني الهمزة التي بعد اللام نقل حركتها على اللام وحذفها، ولما تحركت اللام سقطت همزة الوصل الداخلة على اللام؛ وقال جرير: ألان وقد نزعت إلى نمير، ... فهذا حين صرت لهم عذابا . قال: ومثل البيت الأول قول الآخر: ألا يا هند، هند بني عمير، ... أرث، لان، وصلك أم حديد؟ وقال أبو المنهال: حدبدبى بدبدبى منكم، لان، ... إن بني فزارة بن ذبيان قد طرقت ناقتهم بإنسان ... مشنإ، سبحان ربي الرحمن أنا أبو المنهال بعض الأحيان، ... ليس علي حسبي بضؤلان . التهذيب: الفراء الآن حرف بني على الألف واللام ولم يخلعا منه، وترك على مذهب الصفة لأنه صفة في المعنى واللفظ كما رأيتهم فعلوا بالذي والذين، فتركوهما على مذهب الأداة والألف واللام لهما غير مفارقة؛ ومنه قول الشاعر: فإن الألاء يعلمونك منهم، ... كعلم مظنول ما دمت أشعرا «2» . فأدخ …

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 13, p. 40) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    E. W. Lane (d. 1876), An Arabic-English Lexicon. English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

    آنَ

    1. آنَ, aor. يَؤُونُ, inf. n. أَوْنٌ, He was, or became, at rest, or at ease; he rested in a journey. (IAar, T.) أُنْتُ, aor. and inf. n. as above, I enjoyed a life of ease and plenty; a state of freedom from trouble or inconvenience, and toil or fatigue; a state of ease, repose, or tranquillity. (AZ, T, S, M, K.) I was, or became, grave, staid, steady, sedate, or calm. (S, K.) I was, or became, gentle; or I acted gently: (T, S, M, Msb, K:) and I acted, or proceeded, with moderation, without haste or hurry, in pace or journeying: (M:) I went gently, softly, or in a leisurely manner: (S, K:) أَوْنٌ [the inf. n.] is formed by substitution [of أ for ه] from هَوْنٌ. (S.) You say, أُنْتُ بِالشَّىْءِ, and عَلَى الشَّىْءِ, I was gentle, or I acted gently, with the thing; (M;) and فِى الأَمْرِ in the affair. (Msb.) And أُنْ عَلَى نَفْسِكَ Act thou gently with thyself, or be thou gentle, in pace or journeying: and proceed thou with moderation, without haste or hurry: (T, S:) said in the latter sense to one who has become unsteady, or irresolute. (T.) [In like manner,] you say, عَلَى قَدْرِكَ أَوِّنْ, meaning اِتَّئِدْ عَلَى نَحْوِكَ [app. Act thou with moderation, gentleness, deliberation, or in a leisurely manner, according to thine ability, or to the measure of thine ability; for قَدْرٌ and نَحْوٌ are both syn. with مِقْدَارٌ]. (T, K.) And فِى سَيْرِكُمْ أَوِّنُوا Proceed ye with moderation in your course or pace or journeying. (ISk, T.) And فِى تَأَوَّنَ الأَمْرِ He paused, or was patient, in the affair. (M.) أَوْنٌ also signifies The being weary, or fatigued; like أَيْنٌ. (M.) [Whether, in this sense, it have a verb, is doubtful: see its syn. here mentioned.] Also The putting oneself to trouble, or inconvenience, for the sake of what one may expend upon himself and his family. (M.) And hence, accord. to one [whose name is imperfectly written in the TA], the word مَؤُونَةٌ, [as being originally مَأْوُنَةٌ,] of the measure مَفْعُلَةٌ: but others say that it is of the measure فَعُولَةٌ, from مَأَنْتُ. (TA.) آنَ أَوْنُكَ and أَوَانُكَ [and أَيْنُكَ] signify the same. (M.) [See art. اين.]

    اَوَّنَ

    2: see 1, in two places.

    تَاَوَّنَ

    5: see 1.

    الآنَ

    الآنَ and its vars.: see art. اين. [Accord. to some, it belongs to the present art., in which it is mentioned in the Msb.]

    أَوْنٌ

    أَوْنٌ: see 1 [of which it is the inf. n.]: and see also what next follows.

    أَوَانٌ

    أَوَانٌ (T, S, M, Msb, K) and إِوَانٌ, (T, M, Msb, K,) the latter mentioned by Ks on the authority of Aboo-Jámi', but the former is the usual mode of pronouncing it, (T,) and أَوْنٌ, (M,) A time; a season: pl. آوِنَةٌ; (T, S, M, Msb, K;) but Sb says آوناتٌ; (M; [so in a copy of that work; app. آوِنَاتٌ, as though pl. of آوِنَةٌ;]) and آيِنَةٌ is syn. with آوِنَةٌ. (AA, T, K.) You say, جَآءَ أَوَانُ البَرْدِ [The time, or season, of cold came]. (T.) And فُلَانٌ يَصْنَعُ ذٰلِكَ الأَمْرَ آوِنَةً, (S, K, *) and آيِنَةً, (K, [in the CK آئِنَةً,]) Such a one does that thing sometimes, leaving it undone sometimes. (S, K. *) And أَتَيْتُهُ آينَةً بَعْدَ آيِنَةٍ I came to him times after times. (AA, T.) And آوِنَةً signifies Time after time. (TA, from a trad.) In the saying (of Aboo-Zubeyd, L), (M,) or إِوَانٍ, (L,) [They sought our reconciliation with them, but it was not the time that reconciliation should be sought], accord. to Abu-l- 'Abbás, the tenween of the last word is not a sign of the genitive case, but is, as in the instance of إِذٍ, because of the suppression of a proposition to which the word should be prefixed, as when you say, جِئْتُ أَوَانَ قَامَ زَيْدٌ I came at the time that Zeyd stood. (M, L.) [Hence, أَوَانَئِذٍ At that time or season; then; like حِينَئِذٍ.]

    إِوَانٌ

    إِوَانٌ: see أَوَانٌ: and see also إِيَوَانٌ.

    آئِنٌ

    آئِنٌ [part. n. of 1:] A man enjoying a life of ease and plenty; a state of freedom from trouble or inconvenience, and toil or fatigue; a state of ease, repose, or tranquillity. (AZ, T, S, K.) [Hence the saying,] رِبْعٌ آئِن خَيْرٌ مِنْ غِبٍّ حَصْحَاصٍ [An easy, or a gentle, journey in which the camels are watered only on the first and fourth days is better than a laborious, or quick, journey in which they are watered only on the first and third days]. (TA.) [The fem. is آئِنَةٌ: the pl. of which is أَوَائِنُ and آئِنَاتٌ.] You say, بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَ مَكًّةَ ثَلَاثُ لَيَالٍ أَوَائِنُ Between us and Mekkeh are three nights of easy, or gentle, journeying: (S, K: *) and عَشْرُلَيَال آئِنَاتٌ ten nights of easy journeying. (S, M, K.)

    إِيوَانٌ

    إِيوَانٌ and إِوَانٌ (T, S, M, Msb, K) [each] a foreign word, [i. e. Persian,] (M,) A chamber, or an apartment, (T, Msb,) or a large صُفَّة [i. e. porch, or roofed vestibule, or the like], (S, K,) similar to an أَزَج [or oblong arched or vaulted structure, or a portico], (T, S, M, K,) or built in the form of an أَزَج, (Msb,) not closed in the front, or face: (T, M, Msb: *) [and a palace; often used in this sense in Arabic as well as in Persian: and in the present day, the former, and more commonly لِيوَان, which is Persian, is also applied to an estrade; a slightly-raised portion of the floor, generally extending nearly from the door to the end, or to each end, of a room:] pl. of the former, أَوَاوِينُ, (T, S, K,) because the sing. is originally إِوْوَانٌ, (S,) and إِيوَانَاتٌ; and pl. of the latter, أُونٌ. (T, S, K.) Hence, إِيوَانُ كِسْرَى [The great porch, or the palace, of Kisrà, or Chosroes, who is called صَاحِبُ الإِيوَانِ]. (T, S, Msb.) Also the latter, [and app., accord. to the Msb, the former also,] Any prop, or support, of a thing: (T, Msb:) particularly, a pole of a [tent of the kind called] خِبَآء. (T.) The إِيوَان of the لِجَام [is The headstall of the bridle; and] has for its pl. إِيوَانَاتٌ. (T, K.)

    مَؤُونَةٌ

    مَؤُونَةٌ: see 1, and see art. مأن.

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗
Look this root up elsewhere:Doha Historical Dictionary ↗Arabic Almanac ↗Hawramani Arabic Lexicon ↗

The same letters, turned

The same three letters in all six orders. Choose one.

أ و ن

الهمزة والنون كلمة واحدة تدل على الرفق

a-n is a single word indicating gentleness.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

Reference

About thisal-Khalīl, Ibn Jinnī, Ibn Fāris; the counts across the dictionary

al-Khalīl (d. c. 170/786), Kitāb al-ʿAyn, as transmitted by al-Layth: a two-letter word “turns in two ways”, a three-letter word “in six ways” (masdūsa), four letters in 24, five in 120; “its used forms are written down and its unused ones dropped” (line 975 ↗). The dictionary is built on this: each chapter takes a set of letters and names which orders are used (mustaʿmal) and which unused (muhmal). The ring shows that verdict, from the chapter heading as edited (documented in the text; how much of the book is al-Khalīl's own is disputed).

A reported total. al-Suyūṭī transmits, from Ḥamza al-Iṣfahānī, that al-Khalīl put the possible forms, used and unused, of two to five letters at 12,305,412 (al-Muzhir, line 1347 ↗). It is reported, not found in the ʿAyn. It equals exactly the arrangements of 2 to 5 different letters out of 28 (756 + 19,656 + 491,400 + 11,793,600); the breakdown printed beside it is corrupt, and al-Zubaydī's count, given next, differs (6,659,400).

Ibn Jinnī (d. 392/1002), al-Khaṣāʾiṣ, names the greater derivation (al-ishtiqāq al-akbar): bind a three-letter root and its six orders to one meaning, and bring stray members back “by the subtlety of the craft and interpretation” (line 7536 ↗). He says himself that it does not hold for every root (line 167 ↗; line 7603 ↗).

Ibn Fāris (d. 395/1004) gives each root its own aṣl and treats a rearranged word as maqlūb, “turned round”, and so not a root of its own: “j-b-dh is not a root, because it is a single word, turned round” (Maqāyīs, line 6147 ↗). The ring sets his aṣl for each order side by side; whether they meet is the question.

Neighbours on the ring differ by one swap of two letters.

The critique. A source quoted by al-Suyūṭī calls the greater derivation Ibn Jinnī's innovation, “not relied on in the language” (al-Muzhir, line 6159 ↗).

The other axis. The root's letters also go into patterns that keep their order and change the frame: the patterns (awzān) and the verb Forms I–X.

Across Ibn Fāris's dictionary. Of the 2,300 possible sets of three different sound letters (no hamza, w or y), 1,021 have at least one order as an entry. How many of their six orders are entries:

Ibn Fāris, entries found (1,021 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6319
  2. 2 of 6218
  3. 3 of 6164
  4. 4 of 6155
  5. 5 of 6107
  6. 6 of 658
al-Khalīl, orders his headings call used (746 letter-sets)
  1. 1 of 6148
  2. 2 of 6108
  3. 3 of 6157
  4. 4 of 6179
  5. 5 of 6111
  6. 6 of 643

Of the orders al-Khalīl calls used, 2,097 are entries in Ibn Fāris and 267 are not; 17 that he calls unused are entries in Ibn Fāris.

Our computation from the OpenITI texts; heading detection can miss entries

Attested here means found in our digital texts (Ibn Fāris, Lisān al-ʿArab, Lane, the Quranic Arabic Corpus), with w and y kept apart and hamza spellings merged; it is our data, not a classical verdict. English beside the Arabic is AI translation. Sources and grades: docs/research/root-permutations.md.

Letters & sound

How each letter is made, in brief, from Sībawayh's and Ibn Jinnī's own sentences (linked); their words are under Reference.

Sharing two of its three letters (computed; kinship of form, not of meaning)

16 more

Reference

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

فأقصاها مخرجا: الهمزة والهاء والألف

The furthest of them [the three in the throat] in place: the hamza, the hāʾ and the alif. Sībawayh, line 26548 ↗

فأولها من أسفله وأقصاه، مخرج الهمزة والألف والهاء، هكذا يقول سيبويه

The first of them [in the throat], from its lowest and furthest part, is the place of the hamza, the alif and the hāʾ: so Sībawayh says. Ibn Jinnī, line 965 ↗

و

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء، والميم، والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Sībawayh, line 26563 ↗

ومما بين الشفتين مخرج الباء والميم والواو

From between the two lips is the place of the bāʾ, the mīm and the wāw. Ibn Jinnī, line 986 ↗

ن

ومن حافة اللسان من أدناها إلى منتهى طرف اللسان ما بينها وبين ما يليها من الحنك الأعلى وما فويق الثنايا مخرج النون

From the edge of the tongue, from its nearest part to the end of its tip, between it and the upper palate next to it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Sībawayh, lines 26555–26556 ↗

ومن طرف اللسان بينه وبين ما فويق الثنايا، مخرج النون

From the tip of the tongue, between it and what is just above the front teeth, is the place of the nūn. Ibn Jinnī, line 979 ↗

Sībawayh, al-Kitāb (ed. Hārūn) and Ibn Jinnī, Sirr ṣināʿat al-iʿrāb; OpenITI digital texts (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0). Full credits on each letter's page.

In the Breath of the All-MercifulIbn ʿArabī · metaphysics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

Nature (ch. 2)

وإلا الهاء والهمزة فإنهما باردتان رطبتان

And except hāʾ and hamza, for these two are cold and moist.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2583

و

Level of existence: تعيين الرتب والمقامات والمنازل · the determination of ranks, stations and waystations

Divine Name: رفيع الدرجات · Rafīʿ al-Darajāt, Exalted in Degrees

Lunar mansion: الرشا · al-Rashāʾ

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62121

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 10 line 2573 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582

ن

Level of existence: السماء الرابعة · the fourth heaven

Divine Name: النور · the Light (al-Nūr)

Lunar mansion: السماك · al-Simāk

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 64663

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 8 line 2571 ↗

Nature (ch. 2)

الثمانية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The eightfold [rank]: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2580
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

أ

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى جميع الأشياء قلت أو كثرت، وتكون الإشارة في بعض الأحيان من المتكلم إلى ذاته ونفسه، وهذه الإشارة سالمة من القبض.

It is an indication of all things, whether few or many. At times the indication is from the speaker to his own essence and self, and this indication is free of contraction (qabḍ).

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب القليل.

It is an indication of the near, small thing.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القريب المناسب.

It is an indication of the near, fitting (congruent) thing.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

و

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة في الإنسان مثل العروق والأصابع وما أشبه ذلك.

It is the intertwined things in the human being, such as veins, fingers and the like.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي الأشياء المباينة لبني آدم مثل الأفلاك والجبال وما أشبه ذلك

It is things distinct from the children of Adam, such as the celestial spheres, mountains and the like.

With kasra ـِ

فهي الأشياء المشتبكة المستقذرة أو المبغوضة كالأمعاء ونحوها.

It is intertwined things that are filthy or detested, such as the intestines and the like.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī

ن

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي الخير الساكن في الذات الشاعل فيها.

It is the good that dwells in the self, kindling [al-shāʿil, as written] within it.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الخير الكامل أو النور الساطع.

It is an indication of perfect good or radiant light.

With kasra ـِ

فهي إشارة إلى شيء يدركه المتكلم أو هو له.

It is an indication of something that the speaker perceives or that belongs to him.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
In the sister scriptsHebrew א ו נSyriac ܐ ܘ ܢ
Arabicأ و ن
Hebrewא ו נ
Syriacܐ ܘ ܢ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩱 𐩥 𐩬
Phoenician𐤀 𐤅 𐤍

Letter for letter, by the regular sound correspondences of the Semitic languages (Arabic keeps several sounds the others merged). This shows how the root would be spelled; whether a related word exists is a separate question, answered in the Semitic lens. Where an Arabic sibilant (s, sh) continues two older sounds, both spellings are shown.

Lenses

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) treats أين as an interrogative/adverbial of place-time, always accusative, verbalized in poetry only rarely (āna yaʾīnu aynan), and separately records al-iwān/al-īwān, a vaulted, open-fronted hall (plural أون/أواوين).well attested

    The lexicographers in chronological order, from al-Khalīl to Lane.

    Al-Khalīl (al-ʿAyn) treats أين as an interrogative/adverbial of place-time, always accusative, verbalized in poetry only rarely (āna yaʾīnu aynan), and separately records al-iwān/al-īwān, a vaulted, open-fronted hall (plural أون/أواوين). Al-Jawharī (Ṣiḥāḥ) develops a related sense of ease: al-awn is 'repose, tranquility, gentleness' (al-daʿa wa'l-sakīna wa'l-rifq), a rajul āʾin is one at ease, and 'un ʿalā nafsika' means 'take it easy, be unhurried'; he also notes al-awn as one side of a pack-saddle bag and a donkey's swollen belly after feeding. Ibn Fāris (Maqāyīs) reduces this to a single root, hamza-nūn, meaning rifq ('gentleness'), citing āna yaʾūnu awnan idhā rafaqa. Ibn Manẓūr (Lisān) folds in the أين material, confirming āna as a dialectal variant (not a metathesis, since it has its own maṣdar) of anā/yaʾnī ('to become due'), and traces how al-āna crystallized as a fixed noun for 'the present time,' citing Ibn Jinnī's comment on the Qurʾanic qālū al-āna (Q2:71). Lane's summary confirms ease/repose as primary: rest during travel, freedom from toil, gravity, gentleness, moderation without haste.

    Draws on: khalil_ayn · jawhari_sihah · ibnfaris_maqayis · ibn_manzur_lisan · Lane

    • Al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn, s.v. أين
    • Al-Jawharī, al-Ṣiḥāḥ, s.v. أون
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, s.v. أون
    • Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, s.v. أين
  • Letters & soundIbn ʿArabī's correspondences give wāw as 'the determination of ranks, stations and waystations' and nūn as 'the fourth heaven';speculative

    What the theorists of sound symbolism would say of these letters. Speculative by nature.

    Ibn ʿArabī's correspondences give wāw as 'the determination of ranks, stations and waystations' and nūn as 'the fourth heaven'; al-Dabbāgh reads wāw as marking 'the intertwined things in the human being, such as veins and fingers' and fatḥa-nūn as 'the good that dwells in the self, kindling within it.' One could fancifully connect wāw's 'determination of stations' to awn's sense of a fixed, unhurried resting-place, but no data is given here for hamza, the root's first letter, leaving the picture incomplete even on its own terms. This remains speculative folk-phonosemantics, not linguistic evidence.

    Draws on: akbari_letters · dabbagh_fatha

  • Root structureNo Ibn Fāris chapter-siblings are supplied for direct comparison here.plausible

    The two-letter nucleus (Ibn Fāris's own chapters) and the permutations of the letters (Ibn Jinnī).

    No Ibn Fāris chapter-siblings are supplied for direct comparison here. Within the permutation set, أنو is glossed by Ibn Fāris as covering four senses — slowness/forbearance, an hour of time, attaining a thing, and a container — several of which (an hour of time; a measured, unhurried attaining) echo أون's own sense of unhurried ease and the related āna/al-āna ('the [right] time,' 'now'). نأو yields nuʾā/naʾy, 'the trench dug around a tent to divert rainwater,' a boundary holding something back, distantly resonant with awn's holding-back of haste. نوأ is attested once (compare Q28:76, tanūʾu bi-l-ʿuṣbati, 'weighs down under the burden'), a sense of straining effort that sits in tension with awn's ease; وأن and ونأ are unattested. These are juxtapositions across the permutation table, not claims of shared derivation.

    Draws on: permutations · ibnjinni_greater_derivation

    • Wiktionary Arabic root appendix أ_و_ن (link not verified)
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsNo confident Semitic cognate is available for أون in the 'ease, gentleness' sense.uncertain

    Cognates in the sister languages, and whether the word was borrowed.

    No confident Semitic cognate is available for أون in the 'ease, gentleness' sense. Arabic أين ('where') has a cross-Semitic parallel in interrogative stems seen in Hebrew/Aramaic ay/ayeh ('where'), but the sources here treat أين and أون as related Arabic lughāt rather than a single inherited root, and the 'ease/rest' sense of awn has no clear match in the Hebrew, Aramaic, Akkadian, or Geʿez material at hand. Hebrew אוֹן (ʾôn, 'vigor, wealth') is formally close but semantically divergent and is not treated here as a confident cognate. There is no reason to think أون is a loanword; it appears to be native, if thinly attested, Arabic vocabulary.

    Draws on: no_confident_cognate

    • BDB, s.v. און
  • Philosophy & kalāmAl-āna ('the now'), which Ibn Manẓūr shows crystallizing out of this root-family as a fixed substantive for present time, became a technical term in the philosophical discussion of time (zamān) inherited from Aristotle's Physics: the 'now' as the indivisible boundary between past and future.plausible

    The word as a technical term in falsafa and theology.

    Al-āna ('the now'), which Ibn Manẓūr shows crystallizing out of this root-family as a fixed substantive for present time, became a technical term in the philosophical discussion of time (zamān) inherited from Aristotle's Physics: the 'now' as the indivisible boundary between past and future. Avicenna, in the Physics of al-Shifāʾ, treats al-ān as the limit (ḥadd) that divides time without itself being a part of it, central to his analysis of continuity. The mutakallimūn engaged a parallel but distinct question in their atomism, asking whether time is composed of discrete instants (ānāt) analogous to indivisible spatial atoms. The lexical material documents the word's grammaticalization into 'now' but does not itself argue the philosophical doctrine; the technical use is a later development of the plain temporal sense.

    Draws on: avicenna_physics · aristotle_physics · kalam_atomism

  • Akbarian readingIn the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt given, Ibn ʿArabī writes that he commits to the book only what has been determined (ḥadda) for him, not everything he has witnessed, 'for that cannot be contained by any book, nor by the world as it presently exists (al-ʿālam al-mawjūd al-āna).' Here al-āna marks the bounded present moment of existence against the unbounded scope of what has been unveiled to him — a working distinction between the writable, time-bound record and a witnessing (shuhūd) that exceeds any single now.uncertain

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In the Faṣṣ Ādam excerpt given, Ibn ʿArabī writes that he commits to the book only what has been determined (ḥadda) for him, not everything he has witnessed, 'for that cannot be contained by any book, nor by the world as it presently exists (al-ʿālam al-mawjūd al-āna).' Here al-āna marks the bounded present moment of existence against the unbounded scope of what has been unveiled to him — a working distinction between the writable, time-bound record and a witnessing (shuhūd) that exceeds any single now. No separate Iṣṭilāḥ definition of this root is preserved among the terminology entries supplied, so this reading rests on the single occurrence in context rather than a formal definition.

    Draws on: fass_adam_excerpt

Reference

Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out