مَسْكَن dwelling in Arabic
مَسْكَن is how you say “dwelling” in Arabic.
Root س ك ن s-k-n. noun (noun of place / ism al-makān). maskan.
Arabic
English
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Meaning of dwelling in Arabic
- dwelling, house, abode formed as the place-noun (ism makān) of the verb سَكَنَ in its sense 'he dwelt in, or inhabited, a house/place' — i.e. literally 'a place where one settles and comes to rest'
Example sentence
هكذا تصير الذاكرةُ مسكنًا صالحًا للسكنى لا مستودعَ فوضى
Thus, memory becomes a dwelling fit to live in, not a warehouse of chaos.
مَسْكَنًا a dwelling
'a dwelling / home,' in the -a form because 'becomes' forces its predicate there. Memory becomes a HOME — qualified by 'fit to live in' next. The organized-house image returns as the closing verdict.
The English is machine-translated.
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How it is used
مَسْكَن belongs to the root س-ك-ن, whose basic sense is stillness and rest — a moving thing سَكَنَ ("settled, stopped, calmed") after motion. The verb extends to سَكَنَ الدَّارَ, "he dwelt in the house," with verbal nouns سُكْنَى/سُكْنٌ; مَسْكَن is the place-noun built on that sense, so it names the physical place of dwelling — a house or abode, somewhere one "comes to rest." Don't confuse it with the similar-looking مِسْكِين (a humble or needy person) — the same root entry notes سَكَنَ can also mean "he became such as is termed miskīn," so the two words share a root but diverge in pattern and meaning.
Words from the same root
- سَكَنَ to be or become still, motionless, calm; also to dwell in or inhabit a place
- سكّنهُ to make (something) still, calm, or quiet; to pacify
- سُكْنَى the act of dwelling or residing in a place (verbal noun)
- سُكْنٌ dwelling, residing in a place (alternate verbal noun)
- سَكَنٌ a sense of ease, trust, or reliance placed in something
- تَمَسْكَنَ to act humble or poor, to become lowly like one termed miskīn
More example sentences
وصيرها مساكن الخلق تربيهم صغارًا وتضمهم رفاتا،
And He made it the dwellings of creation, nurturing them as infants and receiving them as remains,
مَسَاكِنَ the dwellings
This noun is the second object of the transforming verb, what the earth was made into, in the accusative as that result, and it heads a possessive pairing, 'the dwellings of creation'. So its case marks the outcome, and it opens the next 'of' link.
Common questions
- How do you say "dwelling" in Arabic?
- مَسْكَن (maskan).
- Is مَسْكَن related to مِسْكِين (miskīn)?
- They share the root س-ك-ن, but مَسْكَن is a place-noun meaning 'dwelling, house,' while مِسْكِين denotes a humble or needy person — a different derivational pattern.
Related words
Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).