Tag Archives: dictionary

Winter, Visas, Bowl

صَحْن root: ص-ح-ن / noun / plural: صُحون / definition: bowl, dish In case any one of you hadn’t noticed that daylight hours have dwindled to their almost-minimum: it’s winter. (And if you actually hadn’t noticed, I apologise for being the bearer of this heavy news.) That is, of course, unless you’re over on theContinue reading “Winter, Visas, Bowl”

Arabic Observations: The Root of Falling, and Love

مَهْوًى root: ه-و-ي / noun of place and time / plural: مَهاوٍ / definition: abyss I love little linguistic crossovers between languages. The ones where we find that two or more languages, far-removed in terms of place and origin, express a particular concept through the same semantic lens. Maybe I love them because they revealContinue reading “Arabic Observations: The Root of Falling, and Love”

Dictionary Finds: A Form XIV Verb

نادِر root: ن-د-ر / adjective, form I active participle / definition: uncommon, rare As they say, one discovery in the dictionary leads to another. So that’s why—for the second week in a row—I couldn’t resist adding to the Dictionary Finds series. And this time, our dictionary find brings us back to an uncommon triliteral verbContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: A Form XIV Verb”

Dictionary Finds: The Thursday Before الخميس

خَميس root: خ-م-س / noun / definition: Thursday Last Thursday marked my move into my twenty-ninth year of life, which makes me twenty-eight in some cultures and twenty-nine in others—and makes me closer to twenty-one in my head. But it’s not like numbers really matter. Except in the case of the days of the weekContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: The Thursday Before الخميس”

Arabic Observations: Reflections on حصحص and the Truth

اِستِطْراد root: ط-ر-د / form X verbal noun / definition: digression I was browsing my notes on Notion, seeking inspiration for today’s post, when one little word pulled at my eyelashes and demanded attention. So the title thus began to take form, and I headed to the dictionary where my semantics addiction took hold andContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Reflections on حصحص and the Truth”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Future”

اللّامَعْنى root: ع-ن-ي / compound abstract noun / definition: meaninglessness The clocks went back the day before yesterday and, like every year, it feels like someone somewhere switched off the warming daylight and left us in a cold, dark wintertime. I think about how a shift of just an hour changes so much, and IContinue reading “Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Future””

Uncontactable and Unread

اِختِفاء root: خ-ف-ي / form VIII verbal noun / definition: disappearance For those who have found me almost uncontactable—of whom I must mention: journal co-editors, my Akkadian teacher, and dear friends whose messages lie in wait in my Whatsapp unreads—I apologise for my unexplained disappearance. You see, there was an unexpected meeting. Then, a chosenContinue reading “Uncontactable and Unread”

Arabic Observations: Solace Through Forgetting

التَّأَمُّل root: ء-م-ل / form V verbal noun / definition: reflection, contemplation I’ve been in a reflective mood lately. And it’s the type of reflection that is directly opposed to productivity rather than one that drives it: consuming, daydreamy, paralysing. As such, it made sense for me to write a reflective post today, adding toContinue reading “Arabic Observations: Solace Through Forgetting”

A Useful Structure: ما إن ـــــ حتى ـــــ

إبْريق root: ب-ر-ق / noun / plural: أَباريق / definition: teapot, jug With the pouring of a never-emptying teapot and the stealing of smiling glances, another Sunday passed and this week has left me in unfamiliar but exciting territory. I served the dolma and wondered if any of the leaves had gotten stuck between myContinue reading “A Useful Structure: ما إن ـــــ حتى ـــــ”

A Final Call, a Third Year

نِداء root: ن-د-و / noun / plural: نِداءات / definition: call, public announcement If you saw four dishevelled passengers racing through Istanbul Airport to catch their transfer flight and making it just before their gate closed on Saturday evening… that was me and my family. Gate F1—why did you have to be so far. AContinue reading “A Final Call, a Third Year”

Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence

التَّدَرُّج root: د-ر-ج / form V verbal noun / definition: gradual advance or progression I’ve gone straight from floating to hitting the ground running. And between that landing and my approaching take-off, things have progressed unexpectedly quickly in the space of a week. I could get used to this pace. But Arabic’s form VI verbsContinue reading “Form VI: Gradualness, Exchange, and Pretence”

Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases

العَوْم root: ع-و-م / form I verbal noun / definition: floating I returned to London yesterday with my glasses broken, heart full, and mind a mess. Those four weeks in Majorca, in my childhood home and bedroom with the sea-blue curtains I’ve had for the past twenty years, felt like too little time to honourContinue reading “Four Weeks, and Three Arabic Phrases”

Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe

مُخَلِّص root: خ-ل-ص / form II active participle / definition: saviour, Salvador These days, I’ve been thinking a lot about Salvador—the diabetic former boxer who drove my mum and I to the airport two years ago. He was driving between motorway lanes whilst scrolling through photos on his phone to share with us and pullingContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: A Page of Woe”

From an Airport, into the Blur

مَطار root: ط-ي-ر / noun of place / plural: مَطارات / definition: airport I’m writing this from a quiet(er) corner of Gatwick’s North Terminal after arriving four hours early, burdened with overstuffed cabin bags and guilt from having to throw away an unopened pint of milk before I left home. Even after a sit-down matchaContinue reading “From an Airport, into the Blur”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Past”

حُلْم root: ح-ل-م / noun / plural: أَحْلام / definition: dream A few nights ago, I had a series of vivid dreams—each storyline defined and profound in and of itself. And yet I couldn’t help but to try to tie those threads together in my fervent hunt for “greater meaning”. I think that sums upContinue reading “Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “the Past””

Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها

دار root: د-و-ر / noun / plural: دِيار / definition: home I had this idea a few days ago to vlog a week in my life as a PhD student. And now, every action poses a conundrum. Like, do I record the aftermath of my disastrous attempt to bake a sugar-free brownie without a recipeContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: بقيت دار لقمان على حالها”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: “Hour”

سائِع root: س-و-ع / form I active participle / definition: abandoned Do you remember, back in January, when we explored why سنة is longer than عام? Well, we’re back with the Exploring Time series—and this time we’re taking a deep dive into the Arabic word for “hour”. And it’s more interesting than you might expect…

Dictionary Finds: رَحَموت

الرَّحْمة root: ر-ح-م / noun / definition: mercy I can summarise my PhD progress today by saying that I eventually won the wrestle with page numbers on my running thesis draft. Of course the developers had to make that difficult, because God forbid someone would want the numbering to start on page 3 rather thanContinue reading “Dictionary Finds: رَحَموت”

Exploring Time in the Arabic Dictionary: Is سنة Longer than عام?

سَنَة root: س-ن-ه or س-ن / noun / definition: year Both سَنة and عام are translated into English as “year”, and they’re used interchangeably. So why does the dictionary tell us that one of these years is longer than the other? What’s the real difference between these two words?