دعا

Arabic

Root
د ع و (d ʕ w)
16 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da.ʕaː/

Verb

دَعَا • (daʕā) I (non-past يَدْعُو (yadʕū), verbal noun دُعَاء (duʕāʔ) or دَعْوَة (daʕwa))

1. to call
2. to invite, to summon
3. to call up
4. to call upon, to appeal to, to urge

   ويُصِرُّ العَالِم أيضًا أن الإسلام يدعو المؤمنين إلى الرحمة بالآخرين.

   The scholar also insists that Islam calls on believers to be merciful to others.

5. to challenge, to induce
6. to pray, to invoke God, to supplicate

Conjugation

Conjugation of دَعَا (I, final-weak, a ~ u, full passive, verbal nouns دُعَاء, دَعْوَة)

verbal noun الْمَصْدَر						دُعَاء, دَعْوَة duʕāʔ, daʕwa
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل						دَاعٍ dāʕin
passive participle اِسْم الْمَفْعُول						مَدْعُوّ madʕuww
active voice الْفِعْل الْمَعْلُوم
		singular الْمُفْرَد				dual الْمُثَنَّى			plural الْجَمْع
		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	دَعَوْتُ daʕawtu	دَعَوْتَ daʕawta	دَعَا daʕā		دَعَوْتُمَا daʕawtumā	دَعَوَا daʕawā		دَعَوْنَا daʕawnā	دَعَوْتُمْ daʕawtum	دَعَوْا daʕaw
	f		دَعَوْتِ daʕawti	دَعَتْ daʕat			دَعَتَا daʕatā			دَعَوْتُنَّ daʕawtunna	دَعَوْنَ daʕawna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَدْعُو ʔadʕū	تَدْعُو tadʕū	يَدْعُو yadʕū		تَدْعُوَانِ tadʕuwāni	يَدْعُوَانِ yadʕuwāni		نَدْعُو nadʕū	تَدْعُونَ tadʕūna	يَدْعُونَ yadʕūna
	f		تَدْعِينَ tadʕīna	تَدْعُو tadʕū			تَدْعُوَانِ tadʕuwāni			تَدْعُونَ tadʕūna	يَدْعُونَ yadʕūna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَدْعُوَ ʔadʕuwa	تَدْعُوَ tadʕuwa	يَدْعُوَ yadʕuwa		تَدْعُوَا tadʕuwā	يَدْعُوَا yadʕuwā		نَدْعُوَ nadʕuwa	تَدْعُوا tadʕū	يَدْعُوا yadʕū
	f		تَدْعِي tadʕī	تَدْعُوَ tadʕuwa			تَدْعُوَا tadʕuwā			تَدْعُونَ tadʕūna	يَدْعُونَ yadʕūna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَدْعُ ʔadʕu	تَدْعُ tadʕu	يَدْعُ yadʕu		تَدْعُوَا tadʕuwā	يَدْعُوَا yadʕuwā		نَدْعُ nadʕu	تَدْعُوا tadʕū	يَدْعُوا yadʕū
	f		تَدْعِي tadʕī	تَدْعُ tadʕu			تَدْعُوَا tadʕuwā			تَدْعُونَ tadʕūna	يَدْعُونَ yadʕūna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		اُدْعُ udʕu			اُدْعُوَا udʕuwā				اُدْعُوا udʕū
	f		اُدْعِي udʕī							اُدْعُونَ udʕūna
passive voice الْفِعْل الْمَجْهُول
		singular الْمُفْرَد				dual الْمُثَنَّى			plural الْجَمْع
		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب		1st person الْمُتَكَلِّم	2nd person الْمُخَاطَب	3rd person الْغَائِب
past (perfect) indicative الْمَاضِي	m	دُعِيتُ duʕītu	دُعِيتَ duʕīta	دُعِيَ duʕiya		دُعِيتُمَا duʕītumā	دُعِيَا duʕiyā		دُعِينَا duʕīnā	دُعِيتُمْ duʕītum	دُعُوا duʕū
	f		دُعِيتِ duʕīti	دُعِيَتْ duʕiyat			دُعِيَتَا duʕiyatā			دُعِيتُنَّ duʕītunna	دُعِينَ duʕīna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أُدْعَى ʔudʕā	تُدْعَى tudʕā	يُدْعَى yudʕā		تُدْعَيَانِ tudʕayāni	يُدْعَيَانِ yudʕayāni		نُدْعَى nudʕā	تُدْعَوْنَ tudʕawna	يُدْعَوْنَ yudʕawna
	f		تُدْعَيْنَ tudʕayna	تُدْعَى tudʕā			تُدْعَيَانِ tudʕayāni			تُدْعَيْنَ tudʕayna	يُدْعَيْنَ yudʕayna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أُدْعَى ʔudʕā	تُدْعَى tudʕā	يُدْعَى yudʕā		تُدْعَيَا tudʕayā	يُدْعَيَا yudʕayā		نُدْعَى nudʕā	تُدْعَوْا tudʕaw	يُدْعَوْا yudʕaw
	f		تُدْعَيْ tudʕay	تُدْعَى tudʕā			تُدْعَيَا tudʕayā			تُدْعَيْنَ tudʕayna	يُدْعَيْنَ yudʕayna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أُدْعَ ʔudʕa	تُدْعَ tudʕa	يُدْعَ yudʕa		تُدْعَيَا tudʕayā	يُدْعَيَا yudʕayā		نُدْعَ nudʕa	تُدْعَوْا tudʕaw	يُدْعَوْا yudʕaw
	f		تُدْعَيْ tudʕay	تُدْعَ tudʕa			تُدْعَيَا tudʕayā			تُدْعَيْنَ tudʕayna	يُدْعَيْنَ yudʕayna

Descendants

• Maltese: dagħa
• → Swahili: dai

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979), “دعا”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Hijazi Arabic

Root
د ع و
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic دَعَا (daʕā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /da.ʕa/

Verb

دعا • (daʕa) I (non-past يدعي (yidʕi))

1. to pray (verbally)

   ادعي إنه تكون درجتك كويسة

   adʕi innu tikūn darajatak kuwaysa

   pray that your grade is good

Conjugation

Conjugation of دعا

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	دعيت (daʕēt)	دعيت (daʕēt)	دعا (daʕa)		دعينا (daʕēna)	دعيتوا (daʕētu)	دعوا (daʕu)
	f		دعيتي (daʕēti)	دعت (daʕat)
non-past	m	أدعي (ʔadʕi)	تدعي (tidʕi)	يدعي (yidʕi)		ندعي (nidʕi)	تدعوا (tidʕu)	يدعوا (yidʕu)
	f		تدعي (tidʕi)	تدعي (tidʕi)
imperative	m		ادعي (adʕi)				ادعوا (adʕu)
	f		ادعي (adʕi)

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

Root
د ع ي
1 term

From Arabic دَعَا (daʕā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dʕa/

• Audio:

  (file)

Verb

دعا • (dʕa) I (non-past يدعي (yidʕi))

1. to call upon God, to pray
   1. to curse
2. to sue (to file a legal action)

   دعاوني فالمحكمة على قبل مضاربة السيمانة الفايتة.

   dʕāwni f-el-maḥkama ʕla qibal mḍārbat es-simāna l-fāyta

   They sued me in court for last week's fight.

Conjugation

This verb needs an inflection-table template.

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دُعَاء (duʕāʔ, “prayer, invocation”).

Noun

دعا • (duʼâ) (definite accusative دعای (duʼâyı), plural ادعیه (edʼiye))

1. prayer, orison, precation, an act of communicating with one's God, or with some spiritual entity

   Synonym: نماز (namâz)

2. invocation, supplication, the act of calling for the assistance or presence of a superior being

   Synonym: نیاز (niyâz)

3. blessing, benediction, grace, a favour, help, or reward from God or another supernatural source

   Synonyms: بركت (bereket), خیر دعا (hayr duʼâ)

Derived terms

• بد دعا (bed duʼâ, “malediction, curse”)
• خیر دعا (hayr duʼâ, “benediction, blessing”)
• دعا ایتمك (duʼâ etmek, “to pray”)
• دعاجی (duʼâcı, “one who prays to God”)
• دعاخوان (duʼâhân, “one who leads the congregation in prayer”)
• دعاسنی آلمق (duʼâsını almak, “to receive a blessing”)
• دعاگو (duʼâgü, “one who prays to God”)
• دعای ماثور (duʼâ-yı mesur, “a traditional prayer”)

Descendants

• Turkish: dua
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: дова

  Latin script: dova

Further reading

click to expand

• Barbier de Meynard, Charles (1881), “دعا”, in Dictionnaire turc-français, volume I, Paris: E. Leroux, page 741
• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007), “dua”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 1298
• Devellioğlu, Ferit (1962), “duâ'”, in Osmanlıca-Türkçe Ansiklopedik Lûgat‎‎^[1] (in Turkish), Istanbul: Türk Dil Kurumu, page 225
• Kélékian, Diran (1911), “دعا”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[2] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 573
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “Precatio”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[3], Vienna, column 1356
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680), “دعا”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[4], Vienna, column 2086
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–), “dua”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “دعا”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[5], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 904

Persian

Alternative forms

• دعاء (du'ā' / do'â')

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /du.ˈʔaː/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o̞.ʔɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o̞.ʔɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [d̪ʊ.wɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [d̪u.wɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪o.ʔɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [d̪u.ʔɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	du'ā
Dari reading?	do'ā
Iranian reading?	do'â
Tajik reading?	du'o

Noun

دعا • (du'ā / do'â) (Tajik spelling дуъо)

1. prayer; benediction
2. (Classical Persian) blessing

Related terms

Persian terms derived from the Arabic root د ع و (0 c, 4 e)

Descendants

• → Assamese: দোৱা (düa)
• → Bengali: দোয়া (dōẇa)
• → Gurani: دوووا (dûwa)
• → Middle Hindi: دعا (d'a /⁠du'ā⁠/)
  • Hindustani:

    Hindi: दुआ (duā)

    Urdu: دُعَا (du'ā)

• → Kermanic: (Tekkiyei, Tarqi) داعا (dâ'â), (Tari, Tamei, Keshei, Natanzi) دعا (do'â)
• → Kurdish:
  • Central Kurdish: (Kalhuri, Sanjabi, Zanganei) دوووا (dûwa)
  • Laki: (Jalalvandi, Zulai, Kakavandi, Huzmanvandi) دوووا (dûwa)
• → Shahrudi: (Askestani, Dervi, Shali, Karini, Gilavani, Lerdi) دوعا (du'â), (Kajali) دعا (do'â), (Karnaqi) دووا (duwâ)

Punjabi

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic دُعَاء (duʕāʔ, “call, prayer”), verbal noun of دَعَا (daʕā, “to call; to summon”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) Phonetic: duā́ IPA^(key): /d̪ʊ.äː˩˥/

Noun

دُعَا • (duʻā) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਦੁਆ)

1. (religion) prayer, supplication
2. (by extension, Islam) the prayers in the Qur'an
3. blessing (ie. benediction)
4. hope, wish

Declension

Declension of دعا

	singular	plural
direct	دُعَا	دُعَاواں
oblique	دُعَا	دُعَاواں
vocative	دُعَائے	دُعَاؤ
ablative	دُعَاؤں	—
locative	—	دُعَاوائِیں
instrumental	—	—

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “دُعا”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012), “دعا”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਦੁਆ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Classical Persian دُعَا (du'ā)bor.

Urdu دُعَا

Borrowed from Classical Persian دُعَا (du'ā). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi دعا (d'a /⁠du'ā⁠/).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪ʊ.(ʔ)ɑː/

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: دُ‧عا

Noun

دُعا • (du'ā) f (formal plural اَدْعِیَہ (ad'iya), Hindi spelling दुआ)

1. (religion) prayer, supplication

   Antonyms: بَدْدُعَا (baddu'ā, “curse”), لَعَنَت (la'anat)

2. (by extension, Islam) the prayers in the Qur'an
3. blessing (ie. benediction)

   آپ کی دُعا ― āp kī du'ā ― It's your prayer (it's thanks to you); I'm fine, thanks

4. hope, wish

   Synonym: خْواہِش (xāhiś)

5. a formulaic phrase of good hope used in letters

Usage notes

The words دُعَا (du'ā) and نَماز (namāz) are often both translated as 'prayer'. However, the former refers to a supplication made by an individual to God, whereas the latter, نَماز (namāz), refers to the obligatory Islamic worship, known in Arabic as صَلَاة (ṣalāh) / salat. The word دُعَا (du'ā) is directly translatable as 'prayer' and نَماز (namāz) as 'salat / Islamic worship' (where عِبادَت ('ibādat) directly translates to 'worship').

Declension

Declension of دعا

	singular	plural
direct	دُعا (du’ā)	دُعائیں (du’āẽ)
oblique	دُعا (du’ā)	دُعاؤں (du’āõ)
vocative	دُعا (du’ā)	دُعاؤ (du’āo)

Related terms

Urdu terms derived from the Arabic root د ع و (0 c, 4 e)

Proper noun

دُعا • (du'ā) f (Hindi spelling दुआ)

1. a female given name, Dua, from Arabic

Further reading

• “دعا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024), “دعا”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]