Arabic vocabulary
نَشَأَto arise in Arabic
نَشَأَ is how you say “to arise” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ن ش أ (n-sh-ʾ)verb (form I)Pronounced nashaʾa
Meaning of to arise in Arabic
- to arise, spring up, appear — said of clouds gathering, or of an opinion/feeling occurring to someone (nashaʾa lahu raʾy)
- to grow up, become a youth or young person
- to originate, come into being; to happen or occur
The base verb describes something arising on its own — clouds gathering, a person growing into youth, an opinion forming in the mind. The causative form IV, anshaʾa, shifts to an agent bringing something into being: God originating creation, someone founding a building, or composing a piece of language. The related noun nashʾa also appears in Qur'anic phrasing for 'the other/latter life,' i.e. the resurrection.
Words from the same root
- أَنْشَأَto create, originate, bring into being (form IV, said of God originating creation); also to found/build, or to compose a piece of language
- نَاشِئٌa youth; a boy or girl past the age of childhood
- نَشْأَةٌan origination, a creation; also used of 'the other life' (the resurrection)
- مَنْشَأٌan origin; the place where one grows up or where something arises
- مُنْشِئٌone who creates or originates something (active participle of anshaʾa)
- نَشْءٌyoung people, youths collectively; also clouds in their first rising
Common questions
- How do you say "to arise" in Arabic?
- نَشَأَ (nashaʾa) — it also covers 'to grow up' and 'to originate/come into being.'
- What is the difference between نَشَأَ and أَنْشَأَ?
- نَشَأَ (nashaʾa, form I) means something arises or grows up by itself; أَنْشَأَ (anshaʾa, form IV) is causative — someone or something (often God) brings it into being, e.g. originating creation or founding a building.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
قَلَّ عَرَبِيٌّ نَشَأَ بِهَا مِثْلَهُ
Few Arabs who grew up in it were like him.
نَشَأَ — grew up. A past verb opening a describing clause attached to 'an Arab': one who grew up. With no separate relative word, the bare verb simply trails the indefinite noun to qualify it, a structure English handles with 'who grew up'.
From: The Martyr's Reward →
Related words
Learn Arabic vocabulary in context
OpenArabic teaches words like نَشَأَ through real bilingual reading with native audio and spaced-repetition practice.
Get the app