أَضْدَادٌ opposites in Arabic

Meaning of opposites in Arabic

1. opposites, contraries things mutually opposed, one overpowering the other in nature — e.g. black and white, life and death
2. equals, counterparts, likes less common sense; e.g. "the people met their aḍdād" = met their equals or fellows

Example sentence

The English is machine-translated.

How it is used

Aḍdād is the broken plural of ḍidd. Notably, ḍidd is itself an example of what the term aḍdād names in classical lexicography: a word carrying two contrary meanings at once (like jawn, "black" or "white") — ḍidd means both "the opposite of a thing" and, less often, "its equal or like." Correspondingly, aḍdād is used both for opposing pairs (black/white, life/death) and, more rarely, for matched equals or fellows.

Words from the same root

• ضِدٌّ the contrary/opposite of a thing; also, less commonly, its like or equal (singular of aḍdād)
• ضَدَّهُ he overcame him (in a dispute); also, he averted or turned him away from something
• ضَادّهُ he was, or became, contrary/opposed to him
• تَضَادّا the two of them were mutually contrary, opposed to each other
• أَضَدَّ he became angry
• مُتَضَادَّانِ two things contrary/incompatible with each other, like night and day

Common questions

How do you say "opposites" in Arabic?

أَضْدَادٌ (aḍdād) — the plural of ضِدّ (ḍidd), "the contrary or opposite of a thing."

What is the singular of أَضْدَادٌ?

ضِدّ (ḍidd), meaning "contrary/opposite"; it can also, less commonly, mean "equal" or "like."

Related words

• هَذِهِ these
• تَوَلَّدَ arise
• عَنْ of
• طَاعَةٌ obedience