How do you say "attention" in Arabic?

هِمّة (himmah) — though it more precisely means the purpose or aspiration one's mind is set on, i.e. where one's intent and effort go, rather than literal attentiveness.

What is the difference between هَمّ and هِمّة؟

هَمّ (hamm) often carries the sense of anxiety or care over an expected harm, while هِمّة (himmah) is the purpose or high aspiration behind an intention — the soul's drive toward something desired.

هِمّة attention in Arabic

هِمّة is how you say “attention” in Arabic.

Root ه م م h-m-m. noun (abstract noun, related to the verb هَمَّ). himmah.

Arabic

English

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Meaning of attention in Arabic

purpose, intention; a thing one meditates, desires, or endeavours to do also spelled هَمَّةٌ; the object one's mind is fixed on — the sense closest to the loose gloss 'attention'
ambition, especially high aspiration described as a faculty rooted in the soul that seeks high things and flees base ones
mind, drive, enterprise; as in the phrase هِمَّةٌ عَالِيَةٌ 'high purpose, ambition'

Example sentence

فالقراء المجودة فيهم تنطع وتحرير زائد يؤدي إلى أن المجود القارىء يبقى مصروف الهمة إلى مراعاة الحروف،

For the exaggerated recitation among them involves excessive detail, leading the refined reciter to focus solely on the articulation of letters,

الهِمَّةِ the attention

This noun, the energy or resolve, is the owner half of the pairing, genitive and definite, completing 'his energy turned'. The chain reads as whose resolve is devoted, with definiteness across the phrase.

From When Recitation Breeds Pride

The English is machine-translated.

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How it is used

هِمَّةٌ names the purpose or object a person sets their mind and effort toward, and especially a strong, lofty aspiration — the soul's drive toward high things rather than base ones. It sits near هَمٌّ (which leans toward anxiety/care over an anticipated harm) but keeps the sense of directed intent and ambition, as in the common phrase هِمَّةٌ عَالِيَةٌ, 'high ambition.'

Words from the same root

هَمٌّ purpose/intention; also anxiety, care, or distress over an expected harm
اِهْتَمَّ to be concerned or grieved about a matter; to mind, attend to, or undertake it
مُهِمٌّ a difficult, arduous, or weighty affair
هُمَامٌ an aspiring king; a magnanimous, courageous chief
هِمٌّ a decrepit, very aged, weak old man
هَامَةٌ a venomous creeping creature such as a scorpion or serpent; figuratively, a louse

Common questions

How do you say "attention" in Arabic?: هِمّة (himmah) — though it more precisely means the purpose or aspiration one's mind is set on, i.e. where one's intent and effort go, rather than literal attentiveness.
What is the difference between هَمّ and هِمّة؟: هَمّ (hamm) often carries the sense of anxiety or care over an expected harm, while هِمّة (himmah) is the purpose or high aspiration behind an intention — the soul's drive toward something desired.

Related words

Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).