Arabic vocabulary
مَعِيشَةٌliving in Arabic
مَعِيشَةٌ is how you say “living” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ع ي ش (ʿ-y-sh)noun (verbal noun / maṣdar of عَاشَ, form I)Pronounced maʿīshah
Meaning of living in Arabic
- livelihood, sustenance; that by which one lives — the means of subsistence — food, drink, or earnings — rather than abstract 'life' itself
- a manner or state of life — overlaps with عِيشَة; e.g. one may live a good or an evil maʿīshah
- (Qur'anic) a straitened life — in maʿīshatan ḍankā (Qur'an 20:123), most commentators take this as the punishment of the grave; others as a hard life in Hellfire
Maʿīshah is the verbal noun of ʿāsha ('to live') but functions chiefly as a concrete noun for one's livelihood or sustenance, distinguishing it from ʿaysh/ʿīshah, which lean more toward 'life' or 'a state of life' in the abstract.
Words from the same root
- عَاشَto live (form I verb)
- عَيْشٌlife; also 'food, bread' in some dialects
- عِيشَةٌa manner or sort of life
- مَعَاشٌlivelihood; the place or time of subsistence
- عَائِشٌliving, alive; one in a good state of life
- أَعَاشَهُhe (God) made him live (causative, form IV)
- مُتَعَيِّشٌone scraping by on barely sufficient sustenance
Common questions
- How do you say "living" in Arabic?
- مَعِيشَةٌ (maʿīshah) — it denotes livelihood or sustenance, the means and manner by which one lives, and is the verbal noun of عَاشَ 'to live'.
- What is the difference between maʿīshah and ʿaysh?
- Both come from the same root and can mean 'life' or 'livelihood', but maʿīshah leans toward the concrete means of subsistence (food, earnings), while ʿaysh more often names life itself, and can also mean food or bread in certain dialects.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
وَطول الْهم وَالْغَم وضنك الْمَعيشَة وكسف البال
And prolonged anxiety, sorrow, harshness of living, and worry of the mind.
الْمَعِيشَةِ — of living. al- = 'the'; the 'of…' word: 'of living, livelihood'.
From: Returning to God →وهو صنعة ومعيشة ينال بها الرجل السعادة والدنيا،
It is a craft and a livelihood through which a person attains happiness and worldly success.
وَمَعِيشَةٌ — and a livelihood. Joined by 'wa-', this shares the predicate role — 'a livelihood / means of living'. Coordinated predicates match in case, so it keeps the nominative. So the craft is described as both a skill and a way to earn.
From: Intention in Islam →
Related words
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