Arabic vocabulary
ذُنُوبsins in Arabic
ذُنُوب is how you say “sins” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in real example sentences from classical texts below.
Root ذ ن ب (dh-n-b)noun (broken plural of ذَنْب, itself a verbal noun / maṣdar)Pronounced dhunūb
Meaning of sins in Arabic
- sins, crimes, faults, misdeeds, transgressions, or acts of disobedience — plural of ذَنْب; covers both intentional and inadvertent wrongdoing, making it broader than إِثْم, which denotes specifically intentional sin
- offences that separate a person from God's favour, or blameworthy deeds when done knowingly — a secondary characterization of ذَنْب given by lexicographers alongside the general 'sin/crime/fault' sense
ذُنُوب is simply the plural of ذَنْب, the standard classical word for sin or wrongdoing. Lexicographers note it is wider than إِثْم: a ذَنْب may be committed knowingly or through inadvertence, whereas إِثْم is specifically deliberate — a distinction worth keeping in mind when the word appears in religious or moral contexts (e.g. seeking forgiveness for one's ذنوب).
Words from the same root
- ذَنَبٌtail; the hind or base part of a thing (the root's literal, physical sense)
- ذَنَّبَform II: to add a trailing appendage — e.g. to let part of a turban hang like a tail, or to append a closing section to a piece of writing
- أَذْنَبَform IV: to commit a sin, to become guilty of a fault
- تَذَنَّبَform V: to accuse someone of a sin they did not commit; also, to approach a road or valley from its far/trailing end
- اسْتَذْنَبَform X: to find someone guilty of a sin, or to impute a fault to them
- ذَانَبَتْform III: said of a mare in a specific state during parturition
Common questions
- How do you say "sins" in Arabic?
- ذُنُوب (dhunūb) — the plural of ذَنْب (dhanb), meaning sin, crime, fault, or transgression.
- What is the singular of ذُنُوب؟
- ذَنْبٌ (dhanb) — a single sin, crime, fault, or act of disobedience.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
فَإِن آخذه بذنوبه رأى عدله،
So if He takes him to account for his sins, he sees His justice,
بِذُنُوبِهِ — for his sins. bi- = 'with, for'; dhunub means 'sins' (plural); the ending '-hi' adds 'his' — 'for his sins'.
From: Returning to God →فَيرى كل مَا يسرّه من فضل الله، وكل مَا يسوءه من ذنوبه وَعدل الله فِيهِ
Thus, he sees everything that pleases him as from the grace of Allah, and everything that displeases him as from his sins and the justice of Allah upon him.
ذُنُوبِهِ — his sins. dhunub means 'sins' (plural); the ending '-hi' adds 'his' — 'his sins'.
From: Returning to God →وتمتنع فِيمَا يسْتَقْبل من
Related words
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