Arabic Verbs for “to Look at” (Part 2)

نَظَر

root: ن-ظ-ر / noun / plural: أَنْظار / definition: sight, view

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We’re adding to our synonyms series this week, with part two of Arabic Verbs for “to Look at”. And this time, we’re including some phrases. Let’s get into it:

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رَنا / يَرنو إلى

first up is a form I defective verb meaning to gaze or look intently at

it featured in the example sentence in Wehr Wednesdays #191

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بَرشَمَ / يُبَرشِمُ إلى

here we have a form I quadriliteral meaning to stare or gaze at

we explored برشم in Wehr Wednesdays #83

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رَمَقَ / يَرمُقُ / الرَّمق

رمق, a form I verb, means to glance or look at

note that there’s no following preposition

the form II verb from the same root رَمَّقَ / يُرَمِّقُ means to stare or gaze at—so a little more intense eye action with that one

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رَنَّقَ / يُرَنِّقُ نَحوَ

it looks like this form II verb and the one mentioned above (رمّق) are word twins!

رنّق نحو means to glance at

the Hans Wehr gives us a collocation under this entry: رنق النظر إلى, to keep looking at or to stare at

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شَخَصَ / يَشخَصُ / الشُّخوص إلى

another form I verb here meaning to stare at

the dictionary gives us two phrases using this verb: شخص بَصَرَه إلى and شخص بِبَصَرِه إلى, both meaning to fix one’s eyes on

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لاصَ / يَلوصُ / اللَّوص

here we have a hollow form I verb from the root ل-و-ص meaning to peer or peep

interestingly, the form III verb from same root لاوَصَ / يُلاوِصُ carries the meaning to stare unflinchingly at (with or without إلى)

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خالَسَهُ / يُخالِسُهُ النَّظَر

this form III phrase means to glance furtively at

also, the form VIII verb from the same root, اِختَلَسَ / يَختَلِسُ, occurs in the phrase اختلس النظر إلى/في—which carries the same meaning as خالسه النظر

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أَدلى / يُدلي بِأَنظارِهِ

the meaning of this phrase, which features the form IV verb from the defective root د-ل-و, is to let one’s glance sweep down or to cast glances upon (إلى)

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فَنجَرَ / يُفَنجِرُ عَينَيهِ في

this phrase contains a form I quadriliteral, with the meaning of to glare at

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سارَقَ / يُسارِقُ النَّظَر إليه

…or سارَقَهُ / يُسارِقُهُ النَّظَر means to steal a glance at someone

سارَقَ is a form III verb—you might have heard of the form I verb from this root: سَرَقَ / يَسرِقُ, to steal

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أَشرَعَ / يُشرِعُ عَينَيهِ إلى

أشرع is a form IV verb, and this phrase means to turn one’s eyes towards

for another verb from the root ش-ر-ع, see Four Synonyms for “to Begin to” in Arabic

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لَحَظَ / يَلحَظُ / اللَّحظ، اللَّحَظان

this form I verb means to look at or to observe

you might be more familiar with the form III verb from this root: لاحَظَ / يُلاحِظُ / المُلاحَظة, to notice, observe

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تَلَفَّتَ / يَتَلَفَّتُ

a form V verb meaning to look or glance around

the dictionary gives some collocations under this entry:

• تلفّت حَولَهُ = he glanced around
• تلفّت يَمنَةً وَيَسرَةً = he looked to the right and left

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أَثأَرَ / يُثئِرُ البَصَر

أثأر is a form IV verb from the hamzated root ث-ء-ر (note: check out Seats of the Hamza (ء))

this phrase is sometimes followed by إلى and means to stare at

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So there we have another list of verbs meaning “to look at”, all with their own subtleties. Do you know of any more synonyms?

Catch you on my next post, مع السلامة!

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