Arabic vocabulary
صَدْرٌchest in Arabic
صَدْرٌ is how you say “chest” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ص د ر (ṣ-d-r)noun (also functions as the verbal noun / maṣdar of Form I)Pronounced ṣadr
Meaning of chest in Arabic
- chest, breast — the front part of the body; the excerpt speaks of striking or hurting someone's ṣadr, and of a person 'having a complaint of the ṣadr' (i.e. a chest ailment)
- the front, foremost, or upper part (of anything) — by extension — e.g. the seat of honor at the head of a gathering, or the heading/opening placed at the start of a piece of writing
Beyond the literal body part, ṣadr carries the root's core sense of 'the front, that which faces forward' — hence its tropical use for the head/upper position in a gathering and for the opening or title of a written work.
Words from the same root
- صَدَرَto return, go back; to depart (from water, a place, or an affair)
- أَصْدَرَto send someone/something back; to issue (a saying, an order)
- صَدَّرَto seat someone in the place of honor; to put a heading/title at the start of a piece of writing
- تَصَدَّرَto sit in the seat of honor; to become advanced or promoted; (of a horse) to take the lead with its chest
- مُصَادَرَةٌthe exacting of a fine or debt from someone; pressing or suing someone for payment
- مَصْدَرٌverbal noun (infinitive) of the verb ṣadara, denoting the act of returning
Common questions
- How do you say "chest" in Arabic?
- Chest is صَدْرٌ (ṣadr), from the root ص-د-ر.
- What does the root ص-د-ر (ṣ-d-r) mean?
- It centers on 'returning or going back' (ṣadara), extending to 'sending back / issuing' (aṣdara) and to 'the front or foremost part,' which is how ṣadr also means chest and, by extension, the head of a gathering or the heading of a book.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
ولباس الذل وإهانة الْعَدو وضيق الصَّدْر
And the clothing of humiliation, the enemy's scorn, and tightness of the chest.
الصَّدْرِ — of the chest. al- = 'the'; completes the 'of…' phrase: 'of the chest' (tightness of the chest = distress).
From: Returning to God →
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