روح
root: ر-و-ح / noun / plural: أَرْواح / definition: soul
Having entered the ballot for the 2025 London Marathon back in April, I am only reassured of my athletic endurance by the fact that I can walk up the escalators at Bond Street station without my legs giving way or needing to stop for breath.
I’m not sure how well this translates into the ability to run the 26.2 miles if my name does get chosen, but I think it’s a good starting point.
Speaking of starting points, last year we looked a little into the origin of the word روح (soul) in The Wind, and a Wandering Mind.
But روح isn’t the only Arabic word for soul, of course. Another common one is نَفْس (soul, self), coming from the same root as نَفَس (breath).
And that’s not all. Here are some other Arabic words for “soul” that I’ve found:
حَوْباء
from the root ح-و-ب, related to sin and abstaining from it
سَريرة
from س-ر-ر, this word also means “secret”; not to be confused with سَرير (“bed”)
جَنان
similarly, this noun from the root ج-ن-ن is related to concealing
تَأْمور
following the pattern تَفْعول, this noun is derived from the root ء-م-ر which has the general meaning of commanding
رُوع
not to be confused with رَوْع (which means “alarm, fear”)
شَراشِر
this one has little to do with the other words it shares its root (ش-ر-ش-ر) with: شُرشور and شَرشير (both are types of bird)—according to المعاني, this reduplicated quadriliteral noun occurs in the collocation ألقَى عليه شَرَاشِرَهُ which roughly translates to “pouring out one’s heart/soul to someone”
دِخلة
this one’s from the root د-خ-ل, related to the internal—we find a nice little collocation under it in the Hans Wehr, راجَعَ دِخلَتَهُ, “to search one’s soul”
As with the other posts in the Uncommon Arabic Words for… series, I’ll be adding to this list if and when I come across any new related words. Feel free to contribute in the comments below if you know any other Arabic words for “soul”!
!مع السلامة
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al-salām ʿalaykum, there’s also ḍamīr (ضمير), though it can mean heart or mind.
وعليكم السلام ورحمة الله
Apologies, I forgot to reply to this earlier! ضمير is a great addition – I usually associate it most strongly with “conscience”, but it also relates to the internal and concealed, like other words on the list. Thanks for your contribution😁