How do you say "avoid" in Arabic?

تجنب (tajannaba) — 'he avoided'; the related verbal noun تجنُّب (tajannub) means 'avoidance.'

What is the root of تجنب and what does it literally relate to?

It comes from ج ن ب (j-n-b), whose base meaning centers on 'side' and on putting something at a distance; تجنّب is the reflexive form, 'to keep oneself at a distance from.'

Arabic vocabulary

تجنبavoid in Arabic

تجنب is how you say “avoid” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.

Root ج ن ب (j-n-b)verb (form V, تَفَعَّلَ)Pronounced tajannaba

Meaning of avoid in Arabic

to avoid, keep away from, shun (something disliked, harmful, or blameworthy) — Reflexive/intensive of the root's basic sense 'to put at a distance, remove, ward off' — here turned onto oneself: to remove oneself from a thing.

تجنّب is the everyday classical word for 'avoiding' something — it builds on the root's core idea of putting a thing at a distance or warding it off (seen in form I, جَنَبَهُ الشَّىْءَ, 'he removed the thing/evil from him'), turning that action back onto the subject: to keep oneself away. The same root's sense of distancing appears in the Qur'an (14:35), where ٱجْنُبْنِى ... أَن نَّعْبُدَ ٱلْأَصْنَامَ asks God to 'keep me and my sons away from worshipping idols.'

Words from the same root

جَنْبٌthe side (of the body); source of the root's 'distancing' imagery
جَنَبٌleading a horse or captive by one's side; also a pain/limp in the side from extreme thirst
جَنَابَةٌbeing a stranger or a remote relation; alighting among a people as an outsider
جِنَابٌa forbidden race-day trick of leading a spare horse alongside to switch onto near the finish
جَنُوبٌthe south wind; south

Common questions

How do you say "avoid" in Arabic?: تجنب (tajannaba) — 'he avoided'; the related verbal noun تجنُّب (tajannub) means 'avoidance.'
What is the root of تجنب and what does it literally relate to?: It comes from ج ن ب (j-n-b), whose base meaning centers on 'side' and on putting something at a distance; تجنّب is the reflexive form, 'to keep oneself at a distance from.'

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

Example sentences

اعلم أن في كل طائفة من علماء هذه الأمة ما يذم ويعاب، فتجنبه
Know that in every group of scholars of this nation, there is what is blameworthy and disgraceful, so avoid it.
فَتَجَنَّبْهُ — so avoid it. This couples the result-marker 'so' with a command-form verb, 'avoid', on a reflexive pattern, with the object 'it' attached. The reflexive shape carries 'keep yourself away from', and the suffix points back to the blameworthy thing just mentioned.
From: When Recitation Breeds Pride →

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