Mashrabaمشربة

Root · 241 in the Quran · 88 in 19 texts of the library

نوسoscillation and dangling motion (root nws)

النون والواو والسين أصل يدل على اضطراب وتذبذب وناس الشىء تذبذب ينوس وسمي أبو نواس لذؤابتين له كانتا تنوسان ويقولون نست …

Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-lugha · English rendering

نوس

The family of the root

Patterns computed · our data

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

11 words3 verbs1 verbal noun1 participle1 intensive or elative4 other nouns1 plural

  • نَاوُوسburialplaces of Christians
  • نَاسَit (a thing, S, M, as a look of hair, and an carring, A) moved to and fro
  • اناسَhe made it to move to and fro
  • تنوّسَit, being blown by the wind, became shaken thereby, so that it moved much to …
  • نَائِسthreads dangling or hanging down and moving about
The whole family6 groups, by pattern; tap a pattern to see what it does
Verbs3نَاسَ · اناسَ · تنوّسَ

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

  • نَاسَit (a thing, S, M, as a look of hair, and an carring, A) moved to and froLaneForm ILaneIbn Fāris
  • اناسَhe made it to move to and froLaneForm IVLane
  • تنوّسَit, being blown by the wind, became shaken thereby, so that it moved much to …LaneForm VLane
Verbal nouns1نَوْس

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

  • نَوْسForm I · Lane: inf. n.Lane
Participles1نَائِس

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

  • نَائِسthreads dangling or hanging down and moving aboutLaneactive, Form ILane
Intensives, qualities and the elative1نَوَّاس

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

Other nouns4نَاوُوس · نُوَاس · نَوَسَات

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

  • نَاوُوسburialplaces of ChristiansLanenounlibrary ×1Lane
  • نُوَاسnounLaneIbn Fāris
  • نَوَسَاتnounLane
  • نُوَاسَةnounLane
Plurals1نَوَاوِيس

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

  • نَوَاوِيسbroken plural of نَاوُوسLane

Reference

Why this shape?What each of the 8 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.

مَفْعَلَةن و سمَنْوَسَة

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.

The dictionaries

English: AI translation
  • al-Khalīl · 170Al-naws (النوس): the oscillation/trembling of a thing.

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

    Al-naws (النوس): the oscillation/trembling of a thing. Nāsa yanūsu nawsan (ناس ينوس نوسا). The original form of al-nās (الناس) is anās (أناس), except that the alif was dropped from anās so it became nās (ناسا). Dhū Nuwās (ذو نواس) was named so because of two locks of hair that used to move upon him.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النوس: تذبذب الشيء. ناس ينوس نوسا. وأصل الناس: أناس، إلا أن الألف حذفت من الأناس فصارت: ناسا. وسمي ذو نواس، لذؤابتين كانتا عليه تتحركان.

    al-Khalīl · 170 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 7, p. 303) ↗
  • al-Jawharī · 393Al-naws (النوس): the trembling/oscillation of a thing.

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

    Al-naws (النوس): the trembling/oscillation of a thing. One says: nāsa yanūsu (ناس ينوس); and anāsahu ghayruh (أناسه غيره) [means] someone else made it sway. In the ḥadīth of Umm Zarʿ: "anāsa min ḥulīyi uḏunī" (أناس من حلي أذني). And nasat al-ibil anūsuhā nawsan (نست الإبل أنوسها نوسا): I watered them (saqaytuhā). Dhū Nuwās (ذو نواس), one of the dhū-kings (aḏwāʾ) of Yemen, was named thus because of two locks of hair that used to sway upon his back. A man [called] nawwās (نواس), with doubling, is one who is unsteady and slack. Al-nās (الناس) may be from the jinn as well as from mankind (al-ins); its origin is anās (أناس), which was lightened. They did not make the alif and lām in it a substitute for the dropped hamza, because if that were so, it would not occur together with what it substitutes for, as in the poet's verse: "Indeed the fates come forth upon the secure people (al-anās al-āminīna)." And al-Nās (الناس) is [also] the name of [the ancestor of] Qays ʿAylān, namely al-Nās ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār, whose brother is Ilyās ibn Muḍar, with a yāʾ.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النوس: تذبذب الشئ. وقد ناس ينوس (1) ، وأناسه غيره. وفى حديث أم زرع: " أناس من حلى أذنى ". ونست الابل أنوسها نوسا: سقتها. وذو نواس من أذواء اليمن، سمى بذلك لذؤابتين كانتا تنوسان على ظهره. ورجل نواس بالتشديد، إذا اضطرب واسترخى. والناس قد يكون من الإنس ومن الجن، وأصله أناس فخفف. ولم يجعلوا الالف واللام فيه عوضا من الهمزة المحذوفة، لانه لو كان كذلك لما اجتمع مع المعوض منه في قول الشاعر (2) إن المنايا يطلع‍ * ن على الاناس الآمنينا (1) * والناس: اسم قيس عيلان، وهو الناس ابن مضر بن نزار. وأخوه الياس بن مضر بالياء.

    al-Jawharī · 393 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 3, p. 987) ↗
  • Ibn Fāris · 395The [letters] nūn, wāw, and sīn form a root indicating unsteadiness and oscillation.

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

    The [letters] nūn, wāw, and sīn form a root indicating unsteadiness and oscillation. Nāsa al-shayʾ (ناس الشيء) means the thing swayed/trembled, yanūsu (ينوس). Abū Nuwās (أبو نواس) was named thus because of two locks of hair (ḏuʾābatān) that used to sway (tanūsān). And they say: nastu al-ibil (نست الإبل) — [meaning] I watered them (saqaytuhā).

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    النون والواو والسين أصل يدل على اضطراب وتذبذب وناس الشىء تذبذب ينوس وسمي أبو نواس لذؤابتين له كانتا تنوسان ويقولون نست الإبل سقتها

    Ibn Fāris · 395 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 5, p. 369) ↗
  • al-Rāghib · 502Al-nās (الناس): it is said its origin is anās (أناس), whose first radical was dropped when the alif and lām were added to it.

    al-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī (d. c. 502/1108), al-Mufradāt. Quranic vocabulary, from core sense to Quranic usage.

    Al-nās (الناس): it is said its origin is anās (أناس), whose first radical was dropped when the alif and lām were added to it. It is also said [to be] a metathesis of nasiya (نسي) [to forget], its origin being insyān (إنسيان) on the pattern of ifʿalān. It is also said its origin is from nāsa yanūsu (ناس ينوس): when it sways; and nasat al-ibil (نست الإبل): I watered the camels. It is also said: Dhū Nuwās (ذو نواس) was a king who had a lock of hair that swayed on his back, and was named thus accordingly; its diminutive on this basis is nuwayyis (نويس). God Most High said: "Say: I seek refuge in the Lord of mankind (rabbi al-nās)" [Sūrat al-Nās 114:1]. [Al-nās (الناس) may sometimes be mentioned while what is meant by it are the virtuous/excellent, excluding those merely covered by the name al-nās in a loose/figurative sense — this is when the meaning of humanity (al-insāniyya) is taken into consideration, namely the existence of reason, remembrance [of God], and the rest of the praiseworthy character traits and meanings proper to it. For anything that lacks the action proper to it scarcely deserves its name, like the hand: if it lacks its proper function, applying 'hand' to it is like applying it to the 'hand' [leg] of a bed or its 'foot' [leg]. Thus His saying: "Believe as the people have believed" [al-Baqara 2:13] means: as one does in whom the meaning of humanity is found — He did not intend by 'human' one specific individual, but rather the meaning [the quality]. Likewise His saying: "Or do they envy the people" [al-Nisāʾ 4:54] means: whoever has the meaning of humanity found in him, whoever that human may be. And sometimes it is intended to denote the species as such, and on this basis is His saying: "Or do they envy the people" [again cited].]

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الناس قيل: أصله أناس، فحذف فاؤه لما أدخل عليه الألف واللام، وقيل: قلب من نسي، وأصله إنسيان على إفعلان، وقيل: أصله من: ناس ينوس: إذا اضطرب، ونست الإبل: سقتها، وقيل: ذو نواس: ملك كان ينوس على ظهره ذؤابة فسمي بذلك، وتصغيره على هذا نويس. قال تعالى: قل أعوذ برب الناس [الناس/ 1] [والناس قد يذكر ويراد به الفضلاء دون من يتناوله اسم الناس تجوزا، وذلك إذا اعتبر معنى الإنسانية، وهو وجود العقل، والذكر، وسائر الأخلاق الحميدة، والمعاني المختصة به، فإن كل شيء عدم فعله المختص به لا يكاد يستحق اسمه كاليد، فإنها إذا عدمت فعلها الخاص بها فإطلاق اليد عليها كإطلاقها على يد السرير ورجله، فقوله: آمنوا كما آمن الناس [البقرة/ 13] أي: كما يفعل من وجد فيه معنى الإنسانية، ولم يقصد بالإنسان عينا واحدا بل قصد المعنى، وكذا قوله: أم يحسدون الناس [النساء/ 54] أي: من وجد فيه معنى الإنسانية أي إنسان كان، وربما قصد به النوع كما هو، وعلى هذا قوله: أم يحسدون الناس «1» «2» .

    al-Rāghib · 502 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 1, p. 828) ↗
  • Lisān · 711Al-nās (الناس) may be from the jinn as well as from mankind (al-ins).

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

    Al-nās (الناس) may be from the jinn as well as from mankind (al-ins). Its origin is anās (أناس), which was lightened, and they did not make the alif-lām in it a substitute for the dropped hamza, because if that were so, it would not occur together with what it substitutes for, as in the poet's saying: "Indeed the fates come forth upon the secure people (al-anās al-āminīna)." Al-naws (النوس): the oscillation/trembling of a thing. Nāsa al-shayʾ yanūsu nawsan wa-nawasānan (ناس الشيء ينوس نوسا ونوسانا): it moved and swayed, dangling. One of the kings of Ḥimyar was called Dhū Nuwās (ذو نواس) because of two braids that swayed on his shoulders. Dhū Nuwās was a king among the dhū-kings of Yemen, named thus because of two locks of hair that swayed on his back. Nāsa nawsan (ناس نوسا): it dangled and swayed; anāsahu huwa (أناسه هو): he [someone] made it sway. In the ḥadīth of Umm Zarʿ, describing her husband: "He filled the fat of my upper arm, and made sway some [ornaments] from my ear's jewelry (anāsa min ḥulīyi uḏunī)" — she meant that he adorned her ears with earrings and pendant ornaments (qirata wa-shunūf) that swayed at her ears. It is said of a slender branch, when the wind blows and shakes it: it 'sways' (yanūsu) and 'moves' (yanūʿu); one says tanawwasa and tanawwaʿa, and 'its swaying increased' (kathura nawasānuhu). In the ḥadīth of ʿUmar, may God be pleased with him: a man passed by him wearing a lower garment (izār) that he was dragging, so [ʿUmar] cut off what was above the ankles [saying] 'it is as though I am looking at the threads dangling (nāʾisa) on his ankles,' meaning hanging and moving; and from this is the ḥadīth about al-ʿAbbās: 'and his two braids swaying (tanūsān) upon his head.' In the ḥadīth of Ibn ʿUmar: 'I entered upon Ḥafṣa while her locks (nawsātuhā) were dripping,' meaning her tresses were dripping water — the tresses were called nawsāt (نوسات) because they move about a great deal. And nasat al-ibil anūsuhā nawsan (نست الإبل أنوسها نوسا): I watered them (saqaytuhā). A man [called] nawwās (نواس), with doubling, is one who is unsteady and slack; and nāsa luʿābuhu (ناس لعابه): his saliva flowed and dangled. Al-nawwās (النواس): what hangs down from a ceiling. Nawwās al-ʿankabūt (نواس العنكبوت): its web, because of its swaying. Al-nawwāsī (النواسي): a type of grape, white, round-berried, with loosely clustered bunches that are long and swaying. [The author] says: I do not know to what it is attributed, unless it be among those [words] attributed to themselves [i.e., intensive self-derived forms], like dawwār and dawwārī, even though al-nawwās is not [otherwise] heard in this sense. Nawwasa bi-l-makān (نوس بالمكان): he stayed/resided in the place. Al-nāwūs (الناووس): the graves/tombs of the Christians; if it is Arabic, then it is of the pattern fāʿūl derived from this [root]. Al-nawwās (النواس): a [personal] name. And al-Nās (الناس) is the name of [the ancestor of] Qays ibn ʿAylān, whose name is al-Nās ibn Muḍar ibn Nizār, and whose brother is Ilyās ibn Muḍar, with a yāʾ.

    AI translation of the Arabic below

    الناس: قد يكون من الإنس ومن الجن، وأصله أناس فخفف ولم يجعلوا الألف واللام فيه عوضا من الهمزة المحذوفة، لأنه لو كان كذلك لما اجتمع مع المعوض منه في قول الشاعر: إن المنايا يطلعن ... على الأناس الآمنينا والنوس: تذبذب الشيء. ناس الشيء ينوس نوسا ونوسانا: تحرك وتذبذب متدليا. وقيل لبعض ملوك حمير: ذو نواس لضفيرتين كانتا تنوسان على عاتقيه. وذو نواس: ملك من أذواء اليمن سمي بذلك لذؤابتين كانتا تنوسان على ظهره. وناس نوسا: تدلى واضطرب وأناسه هو. وفي حديث أم زرع ووصفها زوجها: ملأ من شحم عضدي، وأناس من حلي أذني ؛ أرادت أنه حلى أذنيها قرطة وشنوفا تنوس بأذنيها. ويقال للغصن الدقيق إذا هبت به الريح فهزته: فهو ينوس وينوع، وقد تنوس وتنوع وكثر نوسانه. وفي حديث عمر، رضي الله عنه: مر عليه رجل وعليه إزار يجره فقطع ما فوق الكعبين فكأني أنظر إلى الخيوط نائسة على كعبيه أي متدلية متحركة؛ ومنه حديث العباس: وضفيرتاه تنوسان على رأسه. وفي حديث ابن عمر: دخلت على حفصة ونوساتها تنطف أي ذوائبها تقطر ماء، فسمى الذوائب نوسات لأنها تتحرك كثيرا، ونست الإبل أنوسها نوسا: سقتها. ورجل نواس، بالتشديد، إذا اضطرب واسترخى، وناس لعابه سال فاضطرب. والنواس: ما تعلق من السقف. ونواس العنكبوت: نسجه لاضطرابه. والنواسي: ضرب من العنب أبيض مدور الحب متشلشل العناقيد طويلها مضطربها، قال: ولا أدري إلى أي شيء نسب إلا أن يكون مما نسب إلى نفسه كدوار ودواري، وإن لم يسمع النواس هاهنا، ونوس بالمكان: أقام. والناووس: مقابر النصارى، إن كان عربيا فهو فاعول منه. والنواس: اسم. والناس: اسم قيس بن عيلان، واسمه الناس «1» بن مضر بن نزار، وأخوه إلياس بن مضر، بالياء.

    Lisān · 711 · OpenITIvowelled page on al-Maktaba al-Shāmila (print 6, p. 245) ↗
  • Lane · 1876English, synthesising the classical dictionaries.

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

    نَاسَ

    1. نَاسَ, aor. يَنُوسُ, (S, M, A, Msb,) inf. n. نَوْسٌ (S, M, A, K) and نَوَسَانٌ, (M, A, K,) It (a thing, S, M, as a look of hair, and an carring, A) moved to and fro; (S, A, K;) it was in a state of commotion, and moved to and fro, (M, TA,) hanging down; (TA;) it dangled, or hung down and was in a state of commotion or agitation. (M, Msb [but in the M, the verb in this last sense has only the former of the two inf. ns. assigned to it, though the other equally helongs to it.]) You say also, نَاسَ لُعَابُهُ His slaver flowed and was in a state of commotion. (M.) [See also 5]

    اناسهُ

    4. اناسهُ He made it to move to and fro; (S, A;) he made it to be in a state of commotion. (M, K, TA,) and to move to and fro, (M,) and to hang down; (TA;) he made it to dangle, or to hang down and be in a state of commotion or agitation. (M.) It is said in a trad. (S, M. TA.) of Umm-Zara, (S, TA,) أَنَاسَ مِنْ حُلِىٍّ أُذُنَىَّ [He made my two ears to move to and fro, &c., with ornaments]; (S, M, TA;) meaning, that he ornamented her two ears with [ear-rings of the kinds called] قِرَطَة and شُنُوف, which moved to and fro, &c., in them. (TA.)

    تنوّس

    5. تنوّس It, (a branch of a tree,) being blown by the wind, became shaken thereby, so that it moved much to and fro; as also تنوّع (TA.) [See also 1.]

    نَاسٌ

    نَاسٌ is applied to Men, and to jinn, or genii; (S, Msb, K;) but its predominant application is to the former: (Msb:) it is said by some to be applied to both in the former of the last two verses of the Kur, ٱلَّذِى يُوَسْوِسُ فِى صُدُورِ النَّاسِ مِنَ الجِنَّةِ وَالنَّاسِ [who suggesteth what is vain in the breasts of people of the jinn and mankind]; unless by it be meant النَّاسِى [the forgetting]; or من الجنّة والناس is added in explanation of a preceding word, الوَسْوَاس, or of الذى, or it is in dependence upon يوسوس; (Bd;) [but what corroborates the first explanation is the fact that] men and jinn are both termed رِجَال in the Kur, lxxii. 6; and the Arabs used to say, رَأَيْتُ نَاسًا مِنَ الجِنِّ [I saw people of the jinn]: (Msb:) it is a pl. of إِنْسٌ, (K,) originally أُنَاسٌ, (S, K,) a pl. which is rare [as to form]; (K;) or أُنَاسٌ is pl. of إِنْسَانٌ; (M, art. أنس;) and ناس has the article ال prefixed to it, (S, M,) but not as a substitute for the suppressed ء, because, were it so, it would not be found prefixed to the original, أُنَاسٌ, whereas it is found prefixed to this latter: (S:) this derivation, however, from أُنَاسٌ, contradicts its belonging to art. نوس: (MF;) [but some hold that it does belong to this art.; and the form of its dim., to be mentioned below, favours their opinion: Fei says,] it is a noun applied to denote a pl., like قَوْمٌ and رَهْطٌ; and its sing. is إِنْسَانٌ, from a different root: it is derived from نَاسَ, aor. يَنُوسُ, signifying “ it hung down and was in a state of commotion: ” and [agreeably with this derivation it is said that] its dim. is نُوَيْسٌ: (Msb:) some, again, said that النَّاسُ is originally النَّاسِى. (L, TA, voce إِنْسٌ.) See also إِنْسٌ, throughout. See also نُوَاسٌ.

    نَاسُوتٌ

    [نَاسُوتٌ Human nature; humanity; as also إِنْسَِانيَّةٌ: probably post-classical: opposed to لَاهُوتٌ, q. v., in art. ليه.]

    نَوَسَاتٌ

    نَوَسَاتٌ: see نُوَاسٌ.

    نُوَاسٌ

    نُوَاسٌ A [lock of hair such as is called] ذُؤَابَة, that moves to and fro: (K, in explanation of ذُو نُوَاسٍ the name of a king of El-Yemen:) or نُوَاسَةٌ has this signification: (A:) [the former, therefore, is a coll. gen. n., and this is indicated in the S; and the latter is its n. un.:] and نَوَسَاتٌ signifies i. q. ذَوَائِبُ, [pl. of ذُؤَابَةٌ,] because they move about much. (TA.) What hangs to the roof, (M, A, &c. [a signification assigned in the K to نَاسٌ, probably through the careless omission of the word النُّوَاسُ by an early transcriber,] consisting of smoke, (A, TA,) [or soot,] &c. (TA,) The word in the T and O, as well as in the A [and M], is نُوَاسٌ. (TA.) The web of a spider: because of its fluttering. (M.)

    نُوَاسَةٌ

    نُوَاسَةٌ: see نُوَاسٌ.

    نَوَّاسٌ

    نَوَّاسٌ, applied to man, (S,) Quivering (مُضْطَرِبٌ), and flaccid, or flabby. (S, K.)

    نَائِسٌ

    نَائِسٌ act. part. n. of 1. Ex. خُيُوطٌ نَائِسَةٌ Threads dangling or hanging down and moving about. (TA.)

    نَاوُوسٌ

    نَاوُوسٌ, (M, Msb,) or نَاؤُوسٌ, (Mgh,) Burialplaces of Christians: (M:) or a burial-place of Christians: (Mgh, Msb:) [De Sacy observes, that En-Nuweyree and El-Makreezee constantly use this word in speaking of the burial-places of the ancient kings of Egypt, and that it is from the Greek ναος: (“ Relation de l'Égypte par Abd-allatif; ” p. 508:) Freytag, on the authority of Meyd., explains it as signifying a coffin in which a corpse is enclosed: and 'Abd-el-Lateef applies the (expression نَاوُوسٌ مِنْ حَجَرٍ to the sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid: (see “ Abdollatiphi Hist. Æg. Comp.; ” p. 96:)] if Arabic, (M,) of the measure فَاعُولٌ: (M, Mgh, Msb:) pl. نَوَاوِيسُ. (Mgh, TA.)

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

The same letters, turned

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

ن و س

النون والواو والسين أصل يدل على اضطراب وتذبذب وناس الشىء تذبذب ينوس وسمي أبو نواس لذؤابتين له كانتا تنوسان ويقولون نست الإبل سقتها

The letters n-w-s are a root indicating agitation and swaying. 'Nasa al-shay' yanusu' means the thing swayed and dangled. Abu Nuwas was named so for two locks of hair he had that used to sway. They say 'nustu al-ibil' means I drove the camels.

Ibn Fāris ↗Lisān ↗Lane ↗al-Khalīl: used ↗Quran ×241

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

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 ↗

س

ومما بين طرف اللسان وفويق الثنايا مخرج الزاي، والسين، والصاد

From between the tip of the tongue and just above the front teeth is the place of the zāy, the sīn and the ṣād. Sībawayh, line 26560 ↗

ومما بين الثنايا وطرف اللسان، مخرج الصاد والزاي والسين

From between the front teeth and the tip of the tongue is the place of the ṣād, the zāy and the sīn. Ibn Jinnī, line 983 ↗

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

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

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

س

Level of existence: ما ظهر في الماء · what appears in water

Divine Name: المحيي · al-Muḥyī, the Life-Giver

Lunar mansion: النعائم · al-Naʿāʾim

Futūḥāt ch. 198, line 62110

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

Nature (ch. 2)

السين والشين فطبعهما الحرارة واليبوسة

Sīn and shīn: their nature is heat and dryness.

Ibn ʿArabī, al-Futūḥāt al-Makkiyya, line 2581
Meaning by vowelal-Dabbāgh · a visionary claim about a primordial “Syriac”, not historical Syriac

English throughout: AI translation of the Arabic

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

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

س

With fatḥa ـَ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء المليح الذي من طبعه الرقة.

It is an indication of the comely thing whose nature is delicacy.

With ḍamma ـُ

فهي إشارة إلى الشيء القبيح الخشن، أو إشارة إلى سواد حسا ومعنى.

It is an indication of the ugly, rough thing, or of blackness, sensible and figurative.

With kasra ـِ

وبالكسر إشارة إلى الشيء الطابع وتكون الإشارة منه.

With kasra it is an indication of the impressing/stamping thing, and the indication proceeds from it.

al-Dabbāgh (d. 1132/1719), al-Ibrīz, ch. 2 §15, compiled by al-Lamaṭī
Two-letter nucleus18 roots in Ibn Fāris’s chapterن و

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 30798 ↗

  • نوبالنون والواو والباء كلمة واحدة تدل على اعتياد مكان ورجوع إليه وناب ينوب وانتاب ينتاب ويقال إن النوب النحلQ 18 · L30816
  • نوتالنون والواو والتاء ليس عندي أصلا على أنهم يقولون نات ينوت وينيت إذا تمايل من ضعف فإن صح هذا فلعل النوتي وهو الملاح منهL30821
  • نوحالنون والواو والحاء أصل يدل على مقابلة الشيء للشيء منه تناوح الجبلان إذا تقابلا وتناوحت الريحان تقابلتا في المهب وهذه الريح نيحة لتلك أي مقابلتها ومنهL30824
  • نوخالنون والواو والخاء كلمة واحدة وهي أنخت الجمل فاما فعل المطاوعة منه فقالوا أنخته فبرك وقال آخرون استناخ وجاء في الحديث وإن أنيخ على صخرة استناخ وقال اL30829
  • نورالنون والواو والراء أصل صحيح يدل على إضاءة واضطراب وقلة ثبات منه النور والنار سميا بذلك من طريقة الإضاءة ولأن ذلك يكون مضطربا سريع الحركة وتنورت النارQ 194 · L30833
  • نوسالنون والواو والسين أصل يدل على اضطراب وتذبذب وناس الشىء تذبذب ينوس وسمي أبو نواس لذؤابتين له كانتا تنوسان ويقولون نست الإبل سقتهاQ 241 · L30845
  • نوشالنون والواو والشين أصل صحيح يدل على تناول الشيء ونشته نوشا وتناوشت تناولتQ 1 · L30848
  • نوصالنون والواو والصاد أصل صحيح يدل على تردد ومجىء وذهاب وناص عن قرنه ينوص نوصا والمناص المصدر والملجا أيضاQ 1 · L30853
  • نوضالنون والواو والضاد فيه كلمات متباينة الأولى النوض وصلة ما بين العجز والمتن والثانية قولهم ناض في البلاد ذهب والثالثة الأنواض الأودية واحدها نوضL30858
  • نوطالنون والواو والطاء أصل صحيح يدل على تعليق شيء بشيء ونطته به علقته به والنوط ما يتعلق به أيضا والجمع أنواط وفي المثل عاط بغير أنواط أي أنه يعطو يتناولL30862
  • نوعالنون والواو والعين كلمتان إحداهما تدل على طائفة من الشيء مماثلة له والثانية ضرب من الحركة الأول النوع من الشيء الضرب منه وليس هذا من نوع ذاك والثاني L30873
  • نوفالنون والواو والفاء أصل صحيح يدل على علو وارتفاع وناف ينوف طال وارتفع والنوف السنام وجمعه أنواف وممكن أن يكون قولهم مائة ونيف من هذا وقد ذكرناه في نيفL30879
  • نوقالنون والواو والقاف أصل يدل على سمو وارتفاع وأرفع موضع في الجبل نيق والأصل الواو وحولت ياء للكسرة التي قبلها وممكن أن يكون الناقة من هذا القياس لارتفاQ 7 · L30883
  • نوكالنون والواو والكاف كلمة واحدة هي النواكه والنوك وهي الحمق ورجل أنوك ومستنوك وهم نوكيL30892
  • نولالنون والواو واللام أصل صحيح يدل على إعطاء ونولته أعطيته والنوال العطاء ونلته نولا مثل أنلته وقولك ما نولك أن تفعل كذا فمنه أيضا أي ليس ينبغي أن يكون L30895
  • نومالنون والواو والميم أصل صحيح يدل على جمود وسكون حركة منه النوم نام ينام نوما ومناما وهو نؤوم ونومة كثير النوم ورجل نومة خامل لا يؤبه له ومنه استنام ليQ 9 · L30904
  • نونالنون والواو والنون كلمة واحدة والنون الحوت و ذو النون سيف لبعض العرب كأنه شبه بالنونQ 1 · L30910
  • نوهالنون والواو والهاء كلمة تدل على سمو وارتفاع وناه النبات ارتفع وناهت الناقة رفعت رأسها وصاحت ومنه نهت بالشيء ونوهت رفعت ذكره ويقولون ناهت نفسه قويتL30913
In the sister scriptsHebrew נ ו ס/שSyriac ܢ ܘ ܣ/ܫ
Arabicن و س
Hebrewנ ו ס/ש
Syriacܢ ܘ ܣ/ܫ
Ancient South Arabian (musnad)𐩬 𐩥 𐩯/𐩦
Phoenician𐤍 𐤅 𐤎/𐤔

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 gives the core sense as physical oscillation: nāsa yanūsu, said of a thing that sways or dangles, illustrated by Dhū Nuwās, so named for the two locks of hair that swayed on him — and he explicitly states that al-nās (people) is really aṣluhu anās, the hamza having been dropped, i.e.well attested

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

    Al-Khalīl gives the core sense as physical oscillation: nāsa yanūsu, said of a thing that sways or dangles, illustrated by Dhū Nuwās, so named for the two locks of hair that swayed on him — and he explicitly states that al-nās (people) is really aṣluhu anās, the hamza having been dropped, i.e. a different word merely homographic with this root's verb. Al-Jawharī repeats both points verbatim: nawas = tadhabdhub, and al-nās's true origin is anās, lightened by elision. Ibn Fāris's Maqāyīs confines the root strictly to iḍṭirāb wa-tadhabdhub (agitation, dangling) and does not derive al-nās from it at all. Al-Rāghib surveys three rival etymologies for al-nās — from anās (root أنس), from a metathesis of nasiya 'to forget' (as if from an original insiyān), or from nāsa yanūsu 'to sway,' citing Dhū Nuwās again — showing the derivation of the everyday Quranic word was already contested in his time. Ibn Manẓūr and Lane essentially consolidate this dossier, keeping the oscillation-sense of the root nūs distinct from the disputed etymology of al-nās.

    Draws on: al-Khalil cAyn · al-Jawhari Sihah · Ibn Faris Maqayis · al-Raghib Mufradat · Ibn Manzur Lisan · Lane

    • Lane, Lexicon, نوس
    • Ibn Fāris, Maqāyīs al-Lugha, نوس
  • Letters & soundIn the correspondence attributed to Ibn ʿArabī's cosmology of letters, nūn is assigned to the fourth heaven and wāw to the determination of ranks and waystations, while sīn corresponds to what appears in water.speculative

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

    In the correspondence attributed to Ibn ʿArabī's cosmology of letters, nūn is assigned to the fourth heaven and wāw to the determination of ranks and waystations, while sīn corresponds to what appears in water. Al-Dabbāgh reads nūn as the good kindled within the self, wāw as the intertwined things within the human body (veins, fingers), and sīn as an indication of a delicate, comely thing. Combined purely as a suggestive image, one could read n-w-s as 'a kindled good, ranked/intertwined, appearing delicately as upon water' — a resonance with al-nās as the multiplicity of selves reflecting the one nafs. This is offered as juxtaposition only; mainstream historical linguistics treats such letter-symbolism as devotional or mystical exegesis, not etymology, and it establishes no causal claim about the word's origin.

    Draws on: Ibn Arabi Futuhat letters-heavens correspondence · al-Dabbagh letter meanings

    • al-Dabbāgh, letter meanings (fatḥa series)
  • Root structureAmong Ibn Fāris's ن-و- neighbors, نوب denotes habitual return to a place, نوح mutual facing (of mountains, winds, of mourners wailing toward one another), نور shining together with agitation/instability, نوط hanging one thing from another, and نوس itself dangling motion — a loose family in which medial wāw before a dental or liquid consonant tends toward images of swaying, hanging, or unsteady return.plausible

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

    Among Ibn Fāris's ن-و- neighbors, نوب denotes habitual return to a place, نوح mutual facing (of mountains, winds, of mourners wailing toward one another), نور shining together with agitation/instability, نوط hanging one thing from another, and نوس itself dangling motion — a loose family in which medial wāw before a dental or liquid consonant tends toward images of swaying, hanging, or unsteady return. Among the permutations of the same three letters, نسو (59 occurrences) belongs to a wholly different pair of senses, 'neglecting' and 'forgetting' — which is exactly the root al-Rāghib invokes for his second, metathetic etymology of al-nās (as if from nasiya). وسن (1 occurrence) gives drowsiness, another kind of diminished alertness. Juxtaposed, not asserted: a reader sensitive to Ibn Jinnī's greater derivation (al-tasarruf al-akbar) might notice that nūs/nasw/wasan circle around states of unsteadiness, forgetting, and half-wakefulness, but Ibn Fāris himself keeps these as separate roots with no explicit semantic bridge.

    Draws on: Ibn Faris nucleus · permutations table · Ibn Jinni greater derivation

    • Wiktionary Arabic root appendix ن-و-س (link not verified)
    • Ibn Jinnī, al-Khaṣāʾiṣ (link not verified)
  • Semitic kin & loanwordsThe root n-w-s in its own sense of swaying/dangling has no confident Semitic cognate offered here.plausible

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

    The root n-w-s in its own sense of swaying/dangling has no confident Semitic cognate offered here. But the disputed true origin of al-nās, anās (root أنس), does have solid cognates: Hebrew אֱנוֹשׁ (ʾĕnôš) 'man, mankind,' Aramaic/Syriac ܐܢܫ (ʾ(ǝ)nāš) 'someone, man,' and Akkadian nišū 'people' all point to a common Semitic *ʾ-n-š 'human being(s).' This supports the majority lexicographical view (al-Khalīl, al-Jawharī) that al-nās is a contraction of anās rather than a genuine derivative of nūs 'to sway.' No loanword relationship is indicated; this is shared inherited Semitic vocabulary, not borrowing.

    Draws on: Hebrew ʾenosh · Aramaic/Syriac ʾnash · Akkadian nišū

  • Quranic exegesisBecause al-nās occurs so pervasively (241 times, including as the opening address of sūrat al-Nās, Q114:1, and the vocative yā ayyuhā al-nās opening Q4:1), exegetes treat it as the broadest possible term for the human species, sometimes extended by lexicographers to include jinn as well as ins.well attested

    How the classical exegetes read the word in the Quran.

    Because al-nās occurs so pervasively (241 times, including as the opening address of sūrat al-Nās, Q114:1, and the vocative yā ayyuhā al-nās opening Q4:1), exegetes treat it as the broadest possible term for the human species, sometimes extended by lexicographers to include jinn as well as ins. Al-Rāghib adds an important interpretive move: al-nās can be used tropically for 'the excellent among people' — the genuinely human, in the sense of possessing reason, remembrance (dhikr), and praiseworthy character — excluding by implication those who fail to actualize the essential meaning of insāniyya, on the analogy that a hand which cannot grasp scarcely deserves the name 'hand.' Al-Ṭabarī and al-Zamakhsharī generally gloss occurrences of al-nās in address-verses (yā ayyuhā al-nās) as encompassing all of humankind without qualification, reading such openings as universal calls to accountability before God.

    Draws on: al-Raghib Mufradat · al-Tabari · al-Zamakhshari

  • Akbarian readingIn Faṣṣ Ādam, Ibn ʿArabī anchors his reading of Adam as al-nafs al-wāḥida (the single self) directly to the Quranic address to al-nās: 'O mankind (al-nās), fear your Lord who created you from a single self and created from it its mate' (Q4:1).well attested

    The word in Ibn ʿArabī's text and terminology.

    In Faṣṣ Ādam, Ibn ʿArabī anchors his reading of Adam as al-nafs al-wāḥida (the single self) directly to the Quranic address to al-nās: 'O mankind (al-nās), fear your Lord who created you from a single self and created from it its mate' (Q4:1). Here al-nās names the entire human species as the manifold unfolding — the many selves — of that one primordial self, Adam. The word thus functions in the Fuṣūṣ not merely as a grammatical vocative but as the term for humanity considered precisely in its derivation from, and multiplicity within, the single archetypal nafs, which is the chapter's central theme.

    Draws on: Fass Adam context: Q4:1

    • Fuṣūṣ al-Ḥikam, Faṣṣ Ādam

Reference

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