Arabic vocabulary
لَحْظَةmoment in Arabic
لَحْظَة is how you say “moment” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ل ح ظ (l-ḥ-ẓ)noun (instance noun / verbal noun, feminine)Pronounced laḥẓah
Meaning of moment in Arabic
- a sidelong glance; a look from the outer corner of the eye; an ogle — the root sense in Lane's: a look aside, toward the right or left, without (or with less) turning of the face
- a moment; an instant — extended sense — a span of time likened to the instant a glance takes, as in the phrase في لحظة 'in the twinkling of an eye'
لَحْظَة originally denotes a physical sidelong glance (the same act as the verb لَحَظَ), but Lane records it used for a brief span of time by analogy — "I sat with him a laḥẓah" means "for as long as a glance takes," and في لَحْظَةٍ means "in an instant." This is the sense behind the everyday meaning "moment."
Words from the same root
- لَحَظَto glance at someone from the corner of the eye; to watch (form I verb)
- لَاحَظَto regard, have an eye to, pay heed or attention to (figurative, form III)
- تَلَاحَظُواto exchange sidelong glances; to be mutually related (form VI)
- لَحْظٌverbal noun: a glance from the corner of the eye
- لَحَاظٌthe outer corner of the eye, near the ear
- مَلْحَظٌa glance; the place or act of looking sidelong
- مَلْحُوظٌnoted, regarded, kept in view (figurative)
- لَحَّاظٌone given to habitually glancing from the corner of the eye
Common questions
- How do you say "moment" in Arabic?
- لَحْظَة (laḥẓah).
- What does لحظة literally mean?
- Literally a sidelong glance — a look from the outer corner of the eye; "moment" is an extended sense, comparing a brief span of time to the instant of a glance.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
لحظة أثمرت حرارة القلق ألف سنة،
A moment bore the heat of anxiety for a thousand years.
لَحْظَةٌ — moment. lahza means 'a moment, a glance'; the '-un' ending marks it indefinite — the subject 'a moment'.
From: Adam's Descent →تلمع كالألعاب الناريّة لحظةً ثم تصير رمادًا
they glimmer like fireworks for a moment, then turn to ashes.
لَحْظَةً — for a moment. 'for a moment', accusative adverb of time — how briefly they flash.
From: When Hidden Deeds Are Shown →
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