Mashrabaمشربة

عنوIbn Fāris groups the weak root under three linked senses: directed concern/exertion … (root nw)

العين والنون والحرف المعتل أصول ثلاثة الأول القصد للشيء بانكماش فيه وحرص عليه والثاني دال على خضوع وذل والثالث ظهور شيء …

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

عنو
Patterns computed · our data

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

18 words5 verbs4 verbal nouns2 participles1 place or instrument1 intensive or elative3 other nouns1 plural1 relative or abstract

  • مَعْنَىmeaning; sense
  • عَنَتِhe was, or became, lowly, humble, or submissive, to him
  • مَعانِي—
  • مَعْنَوِيّmoral; spiritual
  • اِعْتَنَىgive attention to; show concern for
The whole family8 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs5عَنَتِ · اِعْتَنَى · عنّا

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

  • عَنَتِhe was, or became, lowly, humble, or submissive, to himLaneForm IQurʾān ×1library ×41LaneIbn Fāris
  • اِعْتَنَىgive attention to; show concern forautoForm VIIIlibrary ×1
  • عنّاhe imprisoned him, or confined him, long, straitening himLaneForm IILaneIbn Fāris
  • اعناhe rendered him lowly, humble, or submissiveLaneForm IVLane
  • تعنّىForm VLane
Verbal nouns4عَنْوَة · عُنوّ · عُنُوّ

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

  • عَنْوَةforce, or constraintLaneForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • عُنوّForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • عُنُوّForm I · Lane: inf. n.LaneIbn Fāris
  • تَعْنِيَةForm II · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles2مُعَنَّى · مُعْتَنَى

The one who does it, and the one it is done to.grammar →

  • مُعَنَّىpassive, Form IILaneIbn Fāris
  • مُعْتَنَىconscientious; attentiveautopassive, Form VIIIlibrary ×1
Place, time and instrument1مَعْنَى

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

Intensives, qualities and the elative1عُنْوَان

The quality carried far, held as a trait, or compared.grammar →

  • عُنْوَانintensive (faʿlān)LaneIbn Fāris
Other nouns3عَنَاء · عَنْوَنْت · عِنْو

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

Plurals1مَعانِي

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

  • مَعانِيsound plural of مَعْنَىlibrary ×38
Relative and abstract1مَعْنَوِيّ

-iyy relates a thing to its source; -iyya makes an abstract noun.grammar →

  • مَعْنَوِيّmoral; spiritualautorelative adjective (-iyy)library ×2Lane
Why this shape?What each of the 13 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.

مَفْعَلَةع ن ومَعْنَوَة

Not in our sources. A possible shape, not a word we can show: the Quran, the library and Lane do not have it for this root.

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.

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170ʿAnānī l-amr yaʿnīnī ʿināyatan (عناني الأمر يعنيني عناية) 'the matter concerned me, concerns me,' so I am muʿnan bihi (معني به) 'concerned with it.' And iʿtanaytu bi-amrihi (واعتنيت بأمره) 'I concerned myself with his af

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

    ʿAnānī l-amr yaʿnīnī ʿināyatan (عناني الأمر يعنيني عناية) 'the matter concerned me, concerns me,' so I am muʿnan bihi (معني به) 'concerned with it.' And iʿtanaytu bi-amrihi (واعتنيت بأمره) 'I concerned myself with his affair.' And ʿanat umūr wa-ʿtanat (وعنت أمور واعتنت) means 'matters occurred and befell.' Ruʾba said: 'Indeed I — when matters concern [one], concerning...' And maʿnā (معنى) of everything is its trial (miḥna) and the state to which its affair comes. Al-ʿanāʾ (العناء) is al-taʿniya (التعنية) [causing hardship] and toil. ʿAnnaytuhu tuʿannīhi (عنيته تعنيه) '[I] afflict him with hardship.' Al-Muʿannā (المعنى) [as a technical term]: the people of the pre-Islamic era, when a man's camels reached one hundred, would take the camel that had brought his herd to that number and 'disable' its back (aghlaqū ẓahrahu, أغلقوا ظهره) so that it could not be ridden and its back could not be used, so that it might be known that its owner possessed a hundred camels (mumiʾ). Disabling its back meant that certain vertebral spines were cut from it and its hump was mutilated. Al-Farazdaq said: 'I overcame you with al-mafqūʾ (المفقىء) and al-muʿannā (المعنى), and with the tent of the one crouched with knees drawn up, and the fluttering [banners].' Al-ʿaniyya (العنية) is al-hināʾ (الهناء) [a tar-like remedy], though it is also said that it is urine thickened with camel dung. Aws ibn Ḥajar said: 'As if congealed tar-salve or ʿaniyya (عنية)...' [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    العاني: الأسير، أقر بالعنو والعناء وهما مصدران قال «1» : ابني أمية إني عنكما عاني ... وما العنا غير أني مرعش فاني

  • Ibn Fāris · 395The letters ʿayn, nūn, and the weak radical have three original meanings.

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

    The letters ʿayn, nūn, and the weak radical have three original meanings. The first indicates aiming at a thing with application to it and eagerness for it. The second indicates submission and abasement. The third indicates the appearing and standing out of a thing. As for the first: from it comes ʿuniytu bi-l-amr wa-bi-l-ḥāja (عنيت بالأمر وبالحاجة) 'I concerned myself with the matter and with the need.' Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: ʿuniya bi-ḥājatī (عني بحاجتي) '[he/it] was concerned with my need,' and others said the same. It is likewise said taʿannaytu (تعنيت). All of this is expressed with the verbal nouns ʿināya (عناية) and ʿunyā (عنيا), so one says anā muʿnan bihi (فأنا معني به) 'I am concerned with it,' and ʿuniya bihi (وعني به). Al-Aṣmaʿī said: one does not say ʿuniya (عني) [in that construction]. Al-Farrāʾ said: a man is ʿān bi-amrī (عان بأمري), meaning muʿnan bihi (معني به) 'concerned with it,' and he cited: 'Concerned with its farthest edge, long of occupation, having two quivers, and what fine arrows!' From this chapter also: ʿanānī hādhā l-amr yaʿnīnī ʿināyatan (عناني هذا الأمر يعنيني عناية) 'this matter concerned me, concerns me, with concern,' and anā muʿnan bihi (وأنا معني به) 'I am concerned with it,' and iʿtanaytu bihi wa-bi-amrihi (واعتنيت به وبأمره) 'I took care of it and of its affair.' The second original meaning is their saying ʿanā yaʿnū (عنا يعنو) 'he submitted, was humbled.' The captive is ʿān (عان). Abū ʿAmr said: aʿin hādhā l-asīr (أعن هذا الأسير) means 'leave this captive be, until the [restraining] leather-thong dries hard upon him.' Zuhayr said: 'And were it not that Abū Ṭarīf would meet captivity from a king, or hardship (ʿanāʾ, عناء)...' Al-Khalīl said: al-ʿunūw and al-ʿanāʾ (العنو والعناء) are verbal nouns of al-ʿānī (العاني). One says ʿāna, aqarra bi-l-ʿunūw (عان أقر بالعنو) '[he] submitted, acknowledging subjugation,' and it [al-ʿunūw] denotes 'the captive.' Al-ʿānī (العاني) is 'the submissive, self-abasing one.' God Almighty said: 'And faces shall be humbled before the Living, the Self-Subsisting' (Q Ṭā-Hā 20:111). And it [the face] taʿnū ʿunūwan (تعنو عنوا) 'submits.' It is likewise said of the captive: ʿanā yaʿnū (عنا يعنو). A poet said: 'Nor is it ever said, through all of time, that he is her captive...' Sometimes they said aʿnūhu (أعنوه), meaning 'they cast him into captivity.' The talbiya (pilgrim-invocation) of the people of Yemen in pre-Islamic times was this: 'A submissive one has come to You — Your Yemeni servants — so that they may make the pilgrimage a second time, upon swift she-camels.' They say: al-ʿānī (العاني) is 'the male slave,' and al-ʿāniya (العانية) is 'the female slave.' Abū ʿAmr said: aʿnaytuhu (أعنيته) means 'I made him a possession/slave,' and he is ʿān (عان), [a state] between al-ʿanāʾ (العناء) [hardship of captivity]. Al-ʿanwa (العنوة) is 'subjugation, forcible conquest.' One says akhadhnāhā ʿanwatan (أخذناها عنوة) 'we took it by force,' i.e., by the sword. It is said: jiʾtu ilayka ʿāniyan (جئت إليك عانيا) 'I came to you in submission,' i.e., humbly. They also say al-ʿanwa (العنوة) means 'obedience.' He said: 'Will you obey me, O heart, in submission (ʿanwatan, عنوة)?' Al-ʿanāʾ (العناء) [meaning 'toil, hardship'] is well known and derives from this. Al-Shaybānī said: rubbat ʿanwatun laka min hādhā l-amr (ربت عنوة لك من هذا الأمر) means 'many a toil (ʿanāʾ, عناء) you had from this matter.' Al-Qutāmī said: 'She turned away from our need, and many a toil you had from her promises, unfulfilled.' They said, and the Arabs say: ʿanawtu ʿinda fulān ʿanwan (عنوت عند فلان عنوا), meaning 'I was a captive with so-and-so.' And they say, cursing a captive: 'May God never loose his ʿunwa (عنوته),' with ḍamma, meaning 'his captivity.' From this chapter also — and this, in our view, is a sound analogy — is al-ʿaniyya (العنية), because it taʿnī (تعني), as if it humbles and subdues, bearing harshly upon whoever is smeared with it. Al-ʿaniyya (العنية) is camel urine that thickens when placed in the sun. They also say, rather, that al-ʿaniyya is urine thickened with camel dung. Aws said: 'As if congealed tar-salve or ʿaniyya (عنية) were dripping down the flow of her gland-sweat from the side of her neck.' Abū ʿUbayd said: among the proverbs of the Arabs is: 'ʿaniyya cures the mange' (عنية تشفي الجرب), used of one who treats himself by his own judgment and opinion, just as mangy camels are treated with al-ʿaniyya. Some said: ʿanaytu l-baʿīr (عنيت البعير) means 'I smeared the camel with al-ʿaniyya,' and he cited: 'Upon every raised ridge of the troop, as if it were a burden-bearer long left smeared with al-ʿaniyya, neglected.' The third original meaning: ʿunyān al-kitāb (عنيان الكتاب), ʿunwānuhu (وعنوانه), and ʿinyānuhu (وعنيانه) [the superscription/title of a letter or book]. Its explanation, in our view, is that it is the part of it that stands out/is visible when it is sealed. From this chapter also is maʿnā (معنى) of a thing. Al-Khalīl added nothing beyond saying: 'The maʿnā of everything is its trial (miḥna) and the state to which its affair comes.' Ibn al-Aʿrābī said: one says mā aʿrifu maʿnāhu wa-maʿnātahu (ما أعرف معناه ومعناته) 'I do not know its meaning.' What the analogy of the language indicates is that al-maʿnā (المعنى) is the intention/purpose [entry continues]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    العين والنون والحرف المعتل أصول ثلاثة الأول القصد للشيء بانكماش فيه وحرص عليه والثاني دال على خضوع وذل والثالث ظهور شيء وبروزه فالأول منه عنيت بالأمر وبالحاجة قال ابن الأعرابي عني بحاجتي وعني وغيره قال أيضا ذلك ويقال مثل ذلك تعنيت أيضا كل ذلك يقال عناية وعنيا فأنا معني به وعن به قال الأصمعي لا يقال عني قال الفراء رجل عان بأمري أي معني به وأنشد : — عان بقصواها طويل الشغل … له جفيران وأي نبل … ومن الباب عناني هذا الأمر يعنيني عناية وأنا معني به واعتنيت به وبأمره والأصل الثاني قولهم عنا يعنو إذا خضع والأسير عان قال أبو عمرو أعن هذا الأسير أي دعه حتى ييبس القد عليه قال زهير : — ولولا أن ينال أبا طريف … إسار من مليك أو عناء … قال الخليل العنو والعناء مصدر للعاني يقال عان أقر بالعنو وهو الأسير والعاني الخاضع المتذلل قال الله تعالى : ﴿ وعنت الوجوه للحي القيوم ﴾ طه111 وهي تعنو عنوا ويقال للأسير عنا يعنو قال : — ولا يقال طوال الدهر عانيها … وربما قالوا أعنوه أي ألقوه في الإسار وكانت تلبية أهل اليمن في الجاهلية هذا : — جاءت إليك عانيه … عبادك اليمانيه … كيما تحج الثانية … على قلاص ناجيه … ويقولون العاني العبد والعانية الأمة قال أبو عمرو وأعنيته إذا جعلته مملوكا وهو عان بين العناء والعنوة القهر يقال أخذناها عنوة أي قهرا بالسيف ويقال جئت إليك عانيا أي خاضعا ويقولون العنوة الطاعة قال : — هل أنت مطيعي أيها القلب عنوة … والعناء معروف وهو من هذا قال الشيباني ربت عنوة لك من هذا الأمر أي عناء قال القطامي : — ونأت بحاجتنا وربت عنوة … لك من مواعدها التي لم تصدق … قالوا وتقول العرب عنوت عند فلان عنوا إذا كنت أسيرا عنده ويقولون في الدعاء على الأسير لا فك الله عنوته بالضم أي إساره ومن هذا الباب وهو عندنا قياس صحيح العنية وذلك أنها تعني كأنها تذل وتقهر وتشتد على من طلي بها والعنية أبوال الإبل تخثر وذلك إذا وضعت في الشمس ويقولون بل العنية بول يعقد بالبعر قال أوس : — كأن كحيلا معقدا أو عنية … على رجع ذفراها من الليت واكف … قال أبو عبيد من أمثال العرب عنية تشفي الجرب يضرب مثلا لمن يتداوى بعقله ورأيه كما تداوى الإبل الجربى بالعنية قال بعضهم عنيت البعير أي طليته بالعنية وأنشد : — على كل حرباء رعيل كأنه … حمولة طال بالعنية ممهل … والأصل الثالث عنيان الكتاب وعنوانه وعنيانه وتفسيره عندنا أنه البارز منه إذا ختم ومن هذا الباب معنى الشيء ولم يزد الخليل على أن قال معنى كل شيء محنته وحاله التي يصير إليها أمره قال ابن الأعرابي يقال ما أعرف معناه ومعناته والذي يدل عليه قياس اللغة أن المعنى هو القصد الذي يبرز ويظهر في الشيء إذا بحث عنه يقال هذا معنى الكلام ومعنى الشعر أي الذي يبرز من مكنون ما تضمنه اللفظ والدليل على القياس قول العرب لم تعن هذه الأرض شيئا ولم تعن أيضا وذلك إذا لم تنبت فكأنها إذا كانت كذا فإنها لم تفد شيئا ولم تبرز خيرا ومما يصححه قول القائل : — ولم يبق بالخلصاء مما عنت به … من البقل إلا يبسها وهجيرها … ومما يصححه أيضا قولهم عنت القربة تعنو وذلك إذا سال ماؤها قال المتنخل : — تعنو بمخروت … قال الخليل عنوان الكتاب يقال منه عنيت الكتاب وعننته وعنونته قال وهو فيما ذكروا مشتق من المعنى قال غيره من جعل العنوان من المعنى قال عنيت بالياء في الأصل وعنوان تقديره فعوال وقولك عنونت فهو فعولت قال الشيباني يقال ما عنا من فلان خير وما يعنو من عملك هذا خير عنوا

  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    عَنَا

    1. عَنَا, (S, Mgh, Msb,) first pers. عَنَوْتُ, (K,) aor. يَعْنُو, (S, Msb,) inf. n. عُنُوٌّ, (S, Mgh, Msb, K, *) and عَنْوَةٌ is the subst. thereof, (Mgh, K, * TA,) [and] so is عَنَآءٌ, (Msb,) or عَنْوَةٌ is its inf. n., (MA,) [and so, app., is عَنَآءٌ, in this sense as well as in another sense, accord. to the K,] He was, or became, lowly, humble, or submissive; (S, MA, Mgh, Msb, K,) and obedient; (MA, TA;) to the truth, &c. (TA.) You say, عَنَا لَهُ He was, or became, lowly, humble, or submissive, to him; or obedient to him. (MA.) And hence the saying in the Kur [xx. 110], وَعَنَتِ ٱلْوَجُوهُ لِلْحَىِّ القَيُّومِ (S, TA) And the countenances shall be lowly &c. [to the Deathless, or Ever-living, the Self-subsisting by Whom all things subsist: or shall be downcast; like the Hebr. phrases ending verses 5 and 6 in Gen. iv.]: or shall be submissive like captives: or the meaning is [shall be depressed by] the depressing of the forehead and the knee [or rather knees] and the hands in the lowering of the head and the prostrating oneself [in prayer]: or [عَنَت is here from عَنَى, belonging to art. عنى, and الوجوه is used by a synecdoche for the persons (as being the most noble of all the parts thereof), and the meaning is] shall suffer fatigue, or weariness, and shall toil. (TA.) And عَنَا, inf. n. عُنُوٌّ (M, Msb, K, TA, accord. to some copies of the K [erroneously] عَنْوٌ) and عُنِىٌّ (TA) and عَنَآءٌ; (K;) and عَنِىَ; (M, K;) He became a captive: (K:) and the latter verb signifies also he stuck fast in captivity: (K in art. عنى:) or both of these verbs have this latter signification: (Msb:) [or] you say, عَنَا فِيهِمْ فُلَانٌ أَسِيرًا Such a one remained among them a captive; and was in a state of confinement: (S:) and عَنَآءٌ signifies also confinement, or imprisonment, in hardship and humiliation. (TA.) Hence the trad., الخَالُ وَارِثُ مَنْ لَا وَارِثَ لَهُ يَفُكُّ عُنِيَّهُ i. e. أَسْرَهُ [The maternal uncle is the heir of him who has no more nearlyallied heir: he shall loose his (the latter's) captivity]: meaning [he shall acquit him of] what is incumbent on him, and clings to him, because of the actions that require punishment or retaliation, the way [or custom] of which is that the عَاقِلَة [q. v., of whom he is a member,] bear the responsibility for them. (Nh, TA.) And عَنْوَةٌ is the subst. of the verb in this sense also. (K, * TA.) And عَنَا, aor. يَعْنُو, inf. n. عَنْوَةٌ, He took a thing by force: and also he took it peaceably, or by surrender: thus having two contr. significations. (Msb.) [But see below, where عَنْوَةٌ is expl. as though it were the subst. of the verb in these two senses.] عَنَوْتُ الشَّىْءَ I put forth, or produced, the thing: and I made the thing apparent, or showed it: (S:) or it has the latter signification; (K;) as also عَنَيْتُ الشَّىْءَ: (IKtt, TA in art. عنى:) and عَنَوْتُ بِالشَّىْءِ has the former signification. (K.) And عَنْوَةٌ is the subst. of the verb thus used, (K, TA,) i. e. in these two senses, as well as in others mentioned above. (TA.) And one says, عَنَتِ الأَرْضُ بِالنَّبَاتِ, (ISk, S, and K in this art. and in art. عنى,) aor. تَعْنُو, inf. n. عُنُوٌّ; (ISk, S;) and aor. تَعْنِى; (Ks, S;) The land made apparent, or showed, [or put forth, or produced,] its plants, or herbage; (S, K;) as also أَعْنَتْهُ. (K.) And لَمْ تَعْنُ بِلَادُنَا بِشَىْءٍ and لَمْ تَعْنِ Our country did not give growth to anything. (S.) And الأَرْضُ شَيْئًا مَا أَعْنَتِ The land did not give growth, or has not given growth, to anything. (S.) And [hence, app.,] سَأَلْتُهُ فَلَمْ يَعْنُ لِى بِشَىْءٍ I asked him, and he did not (لَمْ يَنْدَ and لَمْ يَبِضَّ) to me, or for me, anything. (TA.) عَنَتْ بِهِ أُمُورٌ Events befell him. (S, K.) [See also 1 in art. عنى.] And عَنَا الأَمْرُ عَلَيْهِ The event, or affair, was difficult, or distressing, to him; distressed, or troubled, him. (ISd, K, TA.) عَنَاهُ الأَمْرُ, aor. يَعْنُوهُ: see 1 in art. عنى, first sentence. And عَنَا فِيهِ الأكْلُ, aor. يَعْنُو, inf. n. عُنُوٌّ: see 1 in art. عنى. عَنَا الكَلْبُ الشَّىْءَ, (CK, [in the TA and in my MS. copy of the K للشىء, but see what follows,]) aor. يَعْنُوهُ, inf. n. عنو [app., supposing the verb to be trans. by itself, عَنْوٌ], (TA,) The dog came to the thing and smelt it: (K, TA:) and one says, هٰذَا يَعْنُو هٰذَا This comes to this and smells it. (TA.) عَنَتِ القِرْبَةُ بِمَآءٍ كَثِيرٍ, (K, TA,) aor. تَعْنُو, (TA,) The water-skin did not keep, or retain, much water, so that it appeared [oozing from it]: (K, TA:) or, as some say, عَنَتِ القِرْبَةُ signifies the water-skin let flow its water. (TA.) And عَنَا, inf. n. عُنوٌّ, said of blood, It flowed. (IKtt, TA.) And عَنَا, aor. يَعْنُو, inf. n. عُنُوٌّ, signifies also قَامَ [He, or it, stood; &c.]. (IKtt, TA.) See also Q. Q. 1.

    عنّاهُ

    2. عنّاهُ, (S, TA,) inf. n. تَعْنِيَةٌ, (S, K,) He imprisoned him, or confined him, (S, K, TA,) long, straitening him. (TA.) [See also 4.] And تَعْنِيَةٌ is said to signify Any long confining or restraining: in a trad. of 'Alee, respecting the day of Siffeen, he is related to have said, اِسْتَشْعِرُوا الحَشْيَةَ وَعَنُّوا بِالأَصْوَاتِ i. e. [Make ye fear, or awe, (app. of God,) to be the thing next your hearts,] and restrain, and suppress, the voices; as though he forbade their raising a confused and unintelligible clamour. (TA.) عَنَّيْتُ البَعِيرَ, (S,) inf. n. as above, (S, K,) I smeared the camel with عَنِيَّة [q. v.]. (S, K.) [Hence تَعْنِيَةٌ as a subst., expl. below.] See also Q. Q. 1.

    اعناهُ

    4. اعناهُ He rendered him lowly, humble, or submissive. (S, TA.) And (TA) He made him (Msb, K, TA) to stick fast in captivity, (Msb,) or to be, (K,) or to remain, or continue, (TA,) a captive. (K, TA.) See also 1, in two places. [Hence,] اعني الوَلِىُّ الأَرْضَ The وَلِىّ, i. e. the rain after the وَسْمِىّ, watered the land so that it gave growth to plants, or herbage. (S, * IKtt, TA.) And اعنى الرَّجُلُ The man found, or lighted on, land that had produced herbage such as is termed عُشْب, [for قد اعشرت (to which I cannot assign any apposite meaning) in my original, I read قَدْ أَعْشَبَتْ], and of which the pasturage had become abundant. (TA.) See also Q. Q. 1.

    تعنّى

    5. تعنّى He [a camel] was, or became, smeared with عَنِيَّة [q. v.]: whence the saying of EshShaabee, لَأَنْ أَتَعَنَّى بِعَنِيَّةٍ أَحَبُّ إِلَىَّ مِنْ أَنْ أَقُولَ فِى مَسْأَلَةٍ بِرَأْيِى [Verily my being smeared with عَنِيَّة would be more approvable to me than my saying respecting a question according to my opinion]. (TA.)

    عَنْوَنْتُ الكِتَابَ

    Q. Q. 1. عَنْوَنْتُ الكِتَابَ, (S, K, TA,) inf. n. عَنْوَنَةٌ and عُِنْوَانٌ, (TA,) i. q. عَلْوَنْتُهُ, (S,) I put an عُنْوَان [i. e. a superscription, or title,] to the book, or writing; (K, TA;) syn. وَسَمْتُهُ: (TA:) and one says also, الكِتَابَ عَنَا, aor. يَعْنُوهُ, meaning عَنْوَنَهُ; (IKtt, TA;) and اعناهُ and عنّاهُ and عنّنهُ [which is said to be the original of عَنَّاهُ], meaning the same; (K and TA in art. عنى;) and عَنَيْتُ الكِتَابَ, inf. n. عَنْىٌ, likewise signifies I wrote the عُنْيَان [or عُنْوَان] of the book, or writing. (IKtt, TA in art. عنى.)

    عِنًا

    عِنًا: see the paragraph next following.

    عِنْوٌ

    عِنْوٌ sing. of أَعْنَآءٌ as signifying The sides, regions, quarters, or tracts, (S, K,) of a country, (S,) or of the sky; (K;) like أَحْنَآءٌ: (S in art. حنو and حنى:) or, accord. to IAar, its sing., in this sense, is عِنًا: (S:) and the pl. signifies also the sides of the face. (TA.) And sing. of أَعْنَآءٌ as signifying A party of men of sundry, or different, tribes. (S, K.)

    عَنْوَةٌ

    عَنْوَةٌ Force, or constraint: (Mgh, K, TA:) or the taking by force; (Msb, TA;) as inf. n. of عَنَا [q. v.]. (Msb.) One says, فُتِحَتْ مَكَّةُ عَنْوَةً Mekkeh was taken forcibly, or by force. (Mgh.) And أَخَذَهُ عَنْوَةً He took it by force. (TA.) And فُتِحَتْ هٰذِهِ المَدِينَةُ عَنْوَةً i. e. [This city was taken] by means of conflict; its occupants having been combated until they had it taken from them by superior power or force, and were powerless to keep it, so they left it without there having occurred between them and the Muslims [or invaders] a treaty of peace. (TA.) Also Love, or affection: (ISd, K, TA:) or submission, and concession: or a consequence of submission and concession, on the part of him from whom a thing is taken: (TA:) or the taking peaceably, or by surrender; as inf. n. of عَنَا [q. v.]: (Msb:) thus it has two contr. significations. (Msb, K, TA.) A poet (cited by Fr, TA) says, (Msb, TA;) which is said to mean, [And they did not take it, or her, or them,] by concession, and obedience, [arising from love, or affection,] without fighting: [but the smiting of the Mesh-rafee sword demanded the renouncing thereof:] 'Abd-El-Kádir Ibn-'Amr El-Baghdádee asserts the meaning of عَنْوَةٌ to be submission and concession; adducing as evidence thereof this verse; attributing the contr. meaning to the vulgar: both, however, are correct; and that first mentioned occurs repeatedly in traditions: but the most learned Yákoot Er-Roomee, in his Moajam, says that the verse above-cited may be rendered as meaning and they did not take it, or her, or them, by superior power attended by [or in consequence of] love, or affection: but they did so by fighting: and that this may be regarded as indicated by the poet's saying اخذوها; for otherwise he would have said, فَمَا سَلَّمُوهَا: and he says, it is a matter of common consent that عَنْوَةٌ signifies force, and superior power. (TA.) It is also a subst. from عَنَا in the first of senses mentioned in this art.: [i. e. it signifies Lowliness, humility, or submissiveness:] (Mgh, TA:) [and] so is عَنَآءٌ: (Msb:) see 1, first sentence. And it is also a subst. from عَنَا as meaning “ he became a captive: ” [i. e. it signifies also A state of captivity:] (TA:) see, again, 1. And it is also a subst. from عَنَا in two other senses, as stated above: [i. e. it app. signifies also The act of putting forth, or producing, a thing: and of making it apparent, or showing, it:] (TA:) see, again, 1.

    عُنْوَانٌ

    عُنْوَانٌ (S, K, TA) and عِنْوَانٌ (TA) The سِمَة [meaning superscription, or title,] of a book, or writing; (K, TA;) i. q. عُلْوَانٌ; (S;) and عُنْيَانٌ signifies the same; (K in art. عنى;) as also مُعَنَّى: (K, TA: [in the CK, كَمَعْنَاهُ is put for كَمُعَنَّاهُ:]) the inscription on the back, or outside, of a book, or writing: (Har p. 163, in explanation of عُنْوَانٌ:) [and the address of a letter. And hence,] Anything that serves as an indication of another thing is called its عُنْوَان. (Msb and K in art. عن.) One says, فِى جَبْهَتِهِ عُنْوَانٌ مِنْ كَثْرَةِ السَّجُودِ i. e. [On his forehead is] a mark [from much prostration in prayer]. (TA.) [See more in art. عن.]

    عَنَآءٌ

    عَنَآءٌ: see 1, first sentence; and عَنْوَةٌ, near the end: and see also art. عنى.

    عَنِيَّةٌ

    عَنِيَّةٌ, of the measure فَعِيلَةٌ, The urine of the camel, inspissated in the sun, with which such as is affected with mange, or scab, is smeared; on the authority of AA: (S:) or certain mixtures of urine and dung of camels, with which the camel affected with mange, or scab, is smeared; also termed تَعْنِيَةٌ: (K:) or the urine of camels that are caused to void their urine [in my original تُسْتَبَانُ is erroneously written for تُسْتَبَالُ] in the [season called] رَبِيع when they are satisfied with fresh pasture so as to be in no need of water, cooked [app. by boiling] until it becomes thick, when some flowers of some sorts of herbs, and حَبّ المَحْلَب [the prunus mahaleb of Linn.], are thrown upon it, and it becomes inspissated thereby, then put into small [earthen vessels of the kind called] بَسَاتِيق [pl. of بُسْتُوقَةٌ]: or urine [app. of camels] mixed with certain things, and kept close for some time: or any هِنَآء [generally meaning tar, or a kind thereof, with which camels are smeared, as a remedy for the mange, or scab]. (TA.) It is said in a prov., العَنِيَّةُ تَشْفِى الجَرَبَ; (S, TA;) or عَنِيَّتُهُ تَشْفِى الجَرَبَ [for مِنَ الجَرَبِ, i. e. His عنيّة cures the mange, or scab]: applied to the man of good judgment [whose advice is like a remedy]. (TA.)

    عَانٍ

    عَانٍ Lowly, humble, or submissive. (Msb, TA.) And (Msb, TA) hence, app., (TA,) A captive; (S, Mgh, Msb, K, TA;) fem. عَانِيَةٌ: (Mgh, TA:) pl. masc. عُنَاةٌ; (S, Mgh, Msb, TA;) and pl. fem. عَوَانٍ. (S, Mgh, TA.) And عَوَانٍ signifies (assumed tropical:) Women; (Msb, K;) sing. عَانِيَةٌ: (Msb:) because they are confined like captives in the abodes of their husbands; (Msb;) or because they are treated wrongfully and not defended against their wrongers. (K.) It occurs in a trad. as meaning Females in the condition of captives: (Mgh:) or women who are captives; or like captives. (IAth, TA.) And it signifies also عَوَامِلُ [which, as pl. of عَامِلَةٌ, is used as meaning Workers, or labourers; and also, as a subst., as meaning the legs of a beast or horse or the like]: and it is said to be used by El-Jaadee as an epithet applied to the limbs of camels, or other beasts, used for riding. (TA.) And hence, perhaps, it is applied to The مَكَّاسُون [or collectors of the impost termed مَكْس, q. v.]; because they are workers, or labourers, for the oppressors. (TA.) Also (the sing.) Flowing, applied to blood, (S, K, TA,) or to water. (TA.)

    Lane, Arabic-English Lexiconread Lane's entry online ↗

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

ع ن و

العين والنون والحرف المعتل أصول ثلاثة الأول القصد للشيء بانكماش فيه وحرص عليه والثاني دال على خضوع وذل والثالث ظهور شيء وبروزه

ʿ-n-y is three roots: the first is the aiming at something with eagerness in it and keenness for it; the second indicates submission and abasement; and the third is the appearance of something and its emergence.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×1

an entry in Ibn Fārislater sources onlyin none of them

Do these six share one core meaning?

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.

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

How it is madeSībawayh and Ibn Jinnī · phonetics

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ع

ومن أوسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Sībawayh, lines 26548–26549 ↗

ومن وسط الحلق مخرج العين والحاء

From the middle of the throat is the place of the ʿayn and the ḥāʾ. Ibn Jinnī, line 970 ↗

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 ↗

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 ↗

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

ع

Level of existence: الطبيعة · Nature

Divine Name: الباطن · The Inward (al-Bāṭin)

Lunar mansion: الثريا · al-Thurayyā (the Pleiades)

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 63825

Spheres of its simples (ch. 2): 9 line 2572 ↗

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 ↗

الثمانية فحروفها حارة يابسة

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

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2580

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 ↗

المرتبة العشرية فحروفها حارة يابسة

The tenfold rank: its letters are hot and dry.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2582
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

ع

فهي اسم لقدوم أو رحيل.

It is a name for arrival or departure.

فهي اسم للساكن في الذات التي تقوم به.

It is a name for that which dwells in the self and by which the self subsists.

فهي اسم لخبث الذات.

It is a name for the foulness of the self.

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

ن

فهي الخير الساكن في الذات الشاعل فيها.

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

فهي إشارة إلى الخير الكامل أو النور الساطع.

It is an indication of perfect good or radiant light.

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

و

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.

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.

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
Two-letter nucleus11 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterع ن

Ibn Fāris groups his roots under two-letter chapters (“the X and the Y and what makes them three”). These are the roots of this root's chapter with the core sense he gives each. Setting them side by side is our juxtaposition; he does not himself draw a shared meaning. His chapter heading, line 20616 ↗

  • عنىالعين والنون والحرف المعتل أصول ثلاثة الأول القصد للشيء بانكماش فيه وحرص عليه والثاني دال على خضوع وذل والثالث ظهور شيء وبروزهL20617
  • عنبالعين والنون والباء أصيل يدل على ثمر معروف وكلمة غير ذلك فالثمر العنب واحدته عنبة ويقولون ليس في كلامهم فعلة إلا عنبة وربماQ 11 · L20665
  • عنتالعين والنون والتاء أصل صحيح يدل على مشقة وما أشبه ذلك ولا يدل على صحة ولا سهولةQ 5 · L20672
  • عنجالعين والنون والجيم أصل صحيح واحد يدل على جذب شيء بشيء يمتد كحبل وما أشبههL20682
  • عندالعين والنون والدال أصل صحيح واحد يدل على مجاوزة وترك طريق الاستقامةQ 201 · L20709
  • عنشالعين والنون والشين أصيل لعله أن يكون صحيحا وإن صح فهو يدل على تمرس بشيء يقولون فلان يعانش الناس أي يقاتلهم ويتمرس بهم ويعانش يظالم وينشدون : — إذا لأL20763
  • عنصالعين والنون والصاد أصيل صحيح على شيء من الشعرL20771
  • عنطالعين والنون والطاء أصيل صحيح يدل على طول جسم وحسن قوامL20779
  • عنقالعين والنون والقاف أصل واحد صحيح يدل على امتداد في شيء إما في ارتفاع وإما في انسياحQ 9 · L20793
  • عنكالعين والنون والكاف أصلان أحدهما لون من الألوان والآخر ارتباك في الأمر واستغلاق في الشىءL20875
  • عنمالعين والنون والميم ليس بأصل يقاس عليه وإنما هو نبت أو شيء يشبه بهL20894
In the sister scriptsHebrew ע נ וSyriac ܥ ܢ ܘ
Arabicع ن و
Hebrewע נ ו
Syriacܥ ܢ ܘ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩲 𐩬 𐩥
Phoenician𐤏 𐤍 𐤅

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.

  • Classical lexiconAl-Khalīl's entry (combining the weak-final forms) treats ʿanānī l-amru yaʿnīnī as 'the matter concerned/occupied me,' glosses maʿnā as a thing's essential state or upshot, and derives ʿanāʾ (hardship, being wearied) and taʿniya (to burden with toil);well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl's entry (combining the weak-final forms) treats ʿanānī l-amru yaʿnīnī as 'the matter concerned/occupied me,' glosses maʿnā as a thing's essential state or upshot, and derives ʿanāʾ (hardship, being wearied) and taʿniya (to burden with toil); a Jāhilī custom is cited where a man's excess camel is called muʿannāh, its back deliberately damaged. Ibn Fāris then resolves the entry into three distinct senses — directed concern, submission, and outward emergence — noting explicitly that ʿanā yaʿnū (distinct from ʿanā yaʿnī) means 'he became lowly, submissive,' with al-ʿān as the term for a captive. Lane, synthesizing al-Jawharī (S) and later sources, confirms ʿanā/yaʿnū, inf. ʿunūw and ʿanwa, as 'he was, or became, lowly, humble, submissive,' obedient — the very sense required by the Qur'ānic lemma ʿanat.

    Draws on: al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn · Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha · Lane, Lexicon

    • al-Khalīl, Kitāb al-ʿAyn, root ʿ-n-w/y
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, root ʿ-n-w
    • Lane, Lexicon, root ʿ-n-w
  • Letters & soundIn the tradition compiled under the heading of the letters in the Breath, ʿayn is correlated with Nature (al-ṭabīʿa) and, per al-Dabbāgh, with arrival and departure;speculative

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

    In the tradition compiled under the heading of the letters in the Breath, ʿayn is correlated with Nature (al-ṭabīʿa) and, per al-Dabbāgh, with arrival and departure; nūn with the fourth heaven and with 'the good that dwells in the self, kindling within it'; wāw with the determination of ranks, stations, and waystations, and, for al-Dabbāgh, with the intertwined things within a human being (veins, fingers). Read speculatively, the sequence could be made to suggest a movement from departure/arrival (ʿ) through an indwelling impulse (n) to a fixed station or rank (w) — apt for both the sense of 'coming to mean/intend' and that of 'settling into abasement before the Living.' This is offered as suggestive numerological correspondence only; mainstream historical linguistics finds no causal connection between individual Arabic letters and lexical meaning.

    Draws on: Akbarian letter-correspondences (198) · al-Dabbāgh, letter meanings under fatḥa

    • Ibn ʿArabī (attributed), letters of the Breath, no. 198
    • al-Dabbāgh, letter-meanings under fatḥa
  • Root structureThe ʿ-n nucleus, before the weak third radical, sits among siblings such as ʿ-n-t (hardship, difficulty without ease) and ʿ-n-q (extension, stretching upward) — a loose field of strain, extension, and unease that the submission-sense of ʿanā yaʿnū (being bowed, wearied into lowliness) fits comfortably beside, though this is juxtaposition, not derivation.plausible

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

    The ʿ-n nucleus, before the weak third radical, sits among siblings such as ʿ-n-t (hardship, difficulty without ease) and ʿ-n-q (extension, stretching upward) — a loose field of strain, extension, and unease that the submission-sense of ʿanā yaʿnū (being bowed, wearied into lowliness) fits comfortably beside, though this is juxtaposition, not derivation. Among the permutations, ʿ-w-n ('aid, help') is by far the most productive (11 attestations against ʿanaw's own 1), and one may notice — without asserting a historical link — that both roots orient a subject toward another: leaning on a helper (ʿawn) versus bowing before one greater (ʿanā). Ibn Fāris's own note that ʿ-n-w is not judged a fully independent root in some permutation readings (marked false) counsels caution before pressing this further.

    Draws on: Ibn Fāris nucleus siblings · permutation table

    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, siblings and permutations
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsHebrew ʿānâ is itself traditionally split by lexicographers into homographic roots paralleling the Arabic bifurcation: ʿānâ I 'to answer,' and ʿānâ III 'to be bowed down, afflicted, humbled' — the latter a plausible cognate for the Qur'ānic sense of ʿanat, 'were humbled.' Aramaic/Syriac ʿnā similarly covers 'to answer, respond,' aligning loosely with the Arabic sense of directed concern (ʿanā bi-, 'to be occupied with, to address oneself to').plausible

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

    Hebrew ʿānâ is itself traditionally split by lexicographers into homographic roots paralleling the Arabic bifurcation: ʿānâ I 'to answer,' and ʿānâ III 'to be bowed down, afflicted, humbled' — the latter a plausible cognate for the Qur'ānic sense of ʿanat, 'were humbled.' Aramaic/Syriac ʿnā similarly covers 'to answer, respond,' aligning loosely with the Arabic sense of directed concern (ʿanā bi-, 'to be occupied with, to address oneself to'). No confident single Proto-Semitic root can be reconstructed covering all three Arabic senses at once, and there is no reason to treat the Arabic word as a loan; the parallel splitting in Hebrew itself suggests convergent semantic development from a shared but polysemous stock rather than borrowing in either direction.

    Draws on: BDB, Hebrew ʿānâ I–III · Aramaic/Syriac ʿnā

    • Brown–Driver–Briggs, ʿānâ I–III
  • Quranic exegesisAt Q 20:111, wa-ʿanati l-wujūhu li-l-Ḥayyi l-Qayyūm ('and faces have been humbled before the Living, the Self-Subsisting'), the exegetes read wujūh synecdochically for whole persons, and ʿanat as total submission on the Day of Judgment.plausible

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    At Q 20:111, wa-ʿanati l-wujūhu li-l-Ḥayyi l-Qayyūm ('and faces have been humbled before the Living, the Self-Subsisting'), the exegetes read wujūh synecdochically for whole persons, and ʿanat as total submission on the Day of Judgment. Al-Ṭabarī glosses it as dhallat wa-khaḍaʿat, abasement before a Judge no creature can resist. Al-Zamakhsharī and al-Rāzī connect the verse's force to the divine names al-Ḥayy al-Qayyūm immediately following: because God alone is self-subsisting life upon which all else depends, every face — every claim to independent standing — collapses into submission before Him. The verse is thus treated as the paradigm instance of Ibn Fāris's second sense, khuḍūʿ, rather than the 'meaning/concern' sense of the sibling form ʿanā yaʿnī.

    Draws on: general tafsīr tradition on Q 20:111

  • Akbarian readingThe Faṣṣ Ādam excerpts available here use the root not in the Qur'ānic sense of submission but in its sibling sense of directed intent: aʿnī ('I mean') recurs to fix precisely which referent — the outward form of Adam, or the inward reality — Ibn ʿArabī intends by a given phrase, and the verse-line khudhū mā qultuhu ʿannī ('take what I have said, on my authority') likewise marks careful specification of meaning.plausible

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    The Faṣṣ Ādam excerpts available here use the root not in the Qur'ānic sense of submission but in its sibling sense of directed intent: aʿnī ('I mean') recurs to fix precisely which referent — the outward form of Adam, or the inward reality — Ibn ʿArabī intends by a given phrase, and the verse-line khudhū mā qultuhu ʿannī ('take what I have said, on my authority') likewise marks careful specification of meaning. This is worth flagging honestly: the material given does not exhibit Ibn ʿArabī deploying ʿanā/ʿunūw in the abasement-sense of Q 20:111 itself; rather it shows the philologically adjacent qaṣd-sense (Ibn Fāris's first meaning) functioning as his standard device for hermeneutical precision throughout the Faṣṣ. No dedicated Iṣṭilāḥ definition for this root is present in the data given.

    Draws on: Faṣṣ Ādam excerpts, repeated aʿnī

    • Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam
Neighbouring rootsThe roots that share letters with this one, as a map you can open out