What does the root و ق ع mean?

It carries the sense of falling, happening, or befalling — the same root behind وَقَعَ ("to happen"), تَوَقَّعَ ("to expect"), and تَوْقِيع ("signature," an endorsement made to give a document effect).

تَوْقِيع signature in Arabic

تَوْقِيع is how you say “signature” in Arabic.

Root و ق ع w-q-ʿ. noun (verbal noun / maṣdar of Form II وَقَّعَ). tawqīʿ.

Arabic

English

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Meaning of signature in Arabic

signature the modern, standard sense: signing a document to give it legal effect
official endorsement or ruling appended to a petition historically, a note a ruler or administrator wrote beneath or on the back of a submitted case directing that it be acted on
a written note or annotation entered in a document the endorsement itself, or an entry/postil made in a writing or book

Example sentence

ويرسلها مع أنفاس الأسف حتى جاءه توقيع فتاب عليه

And he sent them with sighs of regret until a decree came to him, and He accepted his repentance.

تَوْقِيعٌ signature

tawqi means 'a signed decree, endorsement'; the '-un' ending marks it indefinite — the subject 'a decree'.

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How it is used

Today تَوْقِيع is the ordinary word for a signature. In earlier administrative use it named the note a Sultan or official appended to a submitted petition to give it effect, and by extension the endorsement-writing itself (plural تَوْقِيعَات); Lane notes it as a term of Islamic administrative usage rather than old classical Arabic.

Words from the same root

وَقَعَ to fall; to happen, befall, take place (Form I)
وَاقَعَ to fall upon in conflict; to plunge into an affair (Form III)
أَوْقَعَ to bring about, make happen; to make an assault upon (Form IV)
تَوَقَّعَ to expect, look for something's coming to pass (Form V)
وَقْعَةٌ an onslaught; a shock in battle
مَوْقِعٌ a place or position where something falls or stands
مُوَقَّعٌ signed, endorsed (passive participle of Form II)

Common questions

How do you say "signature" in Arabic?: تَوْقِيع (tawqīʿ).
What does the root و ق ع mean?: It carries the sense of falling, happening, or befalling — the same root behind وَقَعَ ("to happen"), تَوَقَّعَ ("to expect"), and تَوْقِيع ("signature," an endorsement made to give a document effect).

Related words

Definitions summarised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).