This Arabic Dictionary Gives Your Different Perspective on Words

If you have gone through any Arabic dictionary, you would know that there can be multiple meanings for the same word. That’s because Arabic is a very rich language and the number of words in Arabic far exceed than any other language.

Now before I tell you about this dictionary, you know that every word (almost) in Arabic is made up from it’s root letters. Root letters can be 3, 4 or even 5. Now this dictionary lays out the fundamental meaning associated with the root letters only and then it shows how all rest of the meanings are derived from it.

In this dictionary, Imam ibn Faris, traces back the origins of Arabic words.

Now, let’s dig into some words in this dictionary and get some nice juicy outlook.

The Linguistic Relation Between Tooth & Sunnah?

The Arabic word for tooth is سنٌّ.

And the word for Prophet’s عليه السلام routine is سُنَّة.

Both have got same root letters: س ن ن.

So, how do these words share same root meaning? Let’s find out in the dictionary.

In the dictionary, we find:

السِّينُ وَالنُّونُ أَصْلٌ وَاحِدٌ مُطَّرِدٌ، وَهُوَ جَرَيَانُ الشَّيْءِ وَإِطْرَادُهُ فِي سُهُولَةٍ

Meaning: The root letters (س ن ن ) form one single, consistent root. And it indicates, the flow of something and it’s smooth passage.

Imam ibn Faris, further says that Arabs originally used to say:

سَنَنْــتُ الْمَاءَ عَلَى وَجْهِي

which means, I flowed water over my face. You see here, these root letters are associated with something flowing smoothly.

We also have a phrase for man with a flawless skin:

رَجُلٌ مَسْنُونُ الْوَجْهِ

You see, here the word for flawlessness is: مسنونٌ, having same root letters and that is because:

كَأَنَّ اللَّحْمَ قَدْ سُنَّ عَلَى وَجْهِهِ

Translation: As if the skin is flowing smoothly over his face.

From these examples, we can see that any word that comes out of these three letters:

س ن ن

has something to do with smoothness, regularity and continuity.

Now, we have the word:

السُّنَّةُ

which is the word we use for Prophet’s regular acts/routines because of their regularity and continuity.

You might have already guessed why we use the word

سِنٌ

for the tooth. Because the tooth is smoothened & polished at the tip!

This example should have given you enough idea about the ingenuity of this dictionary and the richness of the Arabic language.