Arabic vocabulary
لِبَاسٌclothing in Arabic
لِبَاسٌ is how you say “clothing” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ل ب س (l-b-s)noun (verbal noun / maṣdar)Pronounced libās
Meaning of clothing in Arabic
- clothing, garment, dress; the act of wearing — given alongside lubs as a maṣdar of labisa, 'he put on/wore a garment'
- close association, mutual mixing or consorting — explained as coming from mulābasah, 'the mixing of oneself and congregating, or being mixed and congregated'
The root's core sense is wearing or covering (labisa 'to wear'; albasa 'to clothe, cover, overspread'), but it extends tropically to confusing or obscuring an affair (labbasa/iltabasa, as in Qur'anic uses like 'do not confound truth with falsity') and to mixing or consorting closely with people (lābasa/mulābasah). Libās itself carries both the literal 'garment' sense and, via mulābasah, the sense of close mutual association.
Words from the same root
- لَبِسَto wear, put on (a garment or weapon)
- أَلْبَسَto clothe someone; to cover or overspread (e.g. clouds covering the sky)
- لَبَّسَto confuse or render a matter obscure/dubious (intensive; cf. Qur'anic talbīs)
- لَابَسَto mix with, consort, or hold close social intercourse with
- تَلَبَّسَto clothe oneself; to become engaged or involved in an affair
- الْتَبَسَto become confused or doubtful
- مَلْبَسٌclothing, garment; manner or place of dress
Common questions
- How do you say "clothing" in Arabic?
- لِبَاسٌ (libās).
- Does ل-ب-س only mean "clothing"?
- No — beyond wearing a garment, the root covers 'covering/overspreading' (e.g. clouds covering the sky), and figuratively 'confusing or obscuring' a matter (talbīs) and 'mixing or consorting' with people (mulābasah).
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.
وَلِبَاسُ — and the clothing. wa- = 'and'; libas means 'clothing, garment' (figurative here), heading the next 'of…' word.
From: Returning to God →وَقَدْ دَلَّ الْقُرْآنُ الْعَظِيمُ عَلَى أَنَّهُ كَانَ عَلَيْهِمَا لِبَاسٌ فِي قَوْلِهِ
The Glorious Qur'an indicates that there was clothing on them in the verse:
لِبَاسٌ — a garment. The delayed subject of the 'to be' verb, the noun 'a garment', carrying the indefinite -un ending (audible tanween). It comes after the 'on them' phrase, completing 'there was a garment on them' as the thing whose existence is affirmed.
From: Adam, Eve, and the Forbidden Tree →عَلَيْهِمْ مِنْهَا لِبَاسٌ
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