دن

Arabic

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Aramaic דַּנָּא / ܕܰܢܳܐ (dannā, “wine jug, vat”), from Akkadian 𒂁𒆗𒉡 (/⁠dannu⁠/, “storage vat mostly for storing beer and wine”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dann/

Noun

دَنّ • (dann) m (plural دِنَان (dinān))

1. wine jug
   • a. 570, about when المُرَقِّش الْأَصْغَر (al-muraqqiš al-ʔaṣḡar) died, with this also quoted in الأعشى [al-ʾaʿšā] (a. 625), Geyer, Rudolf, editor, Zwei Gedichte von Al-ʾAʿšâ (Sitzungsberichte der kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien. Philosophisch-historische Klasse; 149/6)‎^[1] (in German), volume Mâ Bukâʾu, Wien: In Kommission bei Carl Gerold’s Sohn, published 1905, →DOI, page 65

     كـَأَنَّ فَاهَا (var. فِيهَا) عـُقَارًا قَرْقَفًا (var. عـُقَارٌ قَرْقَفٌ) نُشَّ (var. سُنَّ) مِنَ الدَنِّ فَالْكَأْسُ رَذُوم

     kaʔanna fāhā (var. fīhā) ʕuqāran qarqafan (var. ʕuqārun qarqafun) nušša (var. sunna) mina d-danni fa-l-kaʔsu raḏūm

     As if her mouth were a gassing hooch … poured from the jug so the stoop was about to overflow

Declension

Declension of noun دَنّ (dann)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَنّ dann	الدَّنّ ad-dann	دَنّ dann
nominative	دَنٌّ dannun	الدَّنُّ ad-dannu	دَنُّ dannu
accusative	دَنًّا dannan	الدَّنَّ ad-danna	دَنَّ danna
genitive	دَنٍّ dannin	الدَّنِّ ad-danni	دَنِّ danni
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دَنَّيْن dannayn	الدَّنَّيْن ad-dannayn	دَنَّيْ dannay
nominative	دَنَّانِ dannāni	الدَّنَّانِ ad-dannāni	دَنَّا dannā
accusative	دَنَّيْنِ dannayni	الدَّنَّيْنِ ad-dannayni	دَنَّيْ dannay
genitive	دَنَّيْنِ dannayni	الدَّنَّيْنِ ad-dannayni	دَنَّيْ dannay
plural	basic broken plural triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	دِنَان dinān	الدِّنَان ad-dinān	دِنَان dinān
nominative	دِنَانٌ dinānun	الدِّنَانُ ad-dinānu	دِنَانُ dinānu
accusative	دِنَانًا dinānan	الدِّنَانَ ad-dināna	دِنَانَ dināna
genitive	دِنَانٍ dinānin	الدِّنَانِ ad-dināni	دِنَانِ dināni

Etymology 2

Verb

دن (form I)

1. دِنَّ (dinna) /din.na/: inflection of دَانَ (dāna):
   1. third-person feminine plural past active/passive
   2. second-person feminine plural imperative
2. دِنْ (din) /din/: second-person masculine singular imperative of دَانَ (dāna)
3. دُنَّ (dunna) /dun.na/: inflection of دَانَ (dāna):
   1. third-person feminine plural past active
   2. second-person feminine plural imperative
4. دُنْ (dun) /dun/: second-person masculine singular imperative of دَانَ (dāna)

References

• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886), Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 169
• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893), “دن”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate, page 918.
• Zimmern, Heinrich (1915), Akkadische Fremdwörter als Beweis für babylonischen Kultureinfluss (in German), Leipzig: A. Edelmann, page 33

Gujarati

Noun

دن • (din) m

1. Lisan ud-Dawat spelling of દિન (din)

Kalami

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-

Proto-Indo-European *-ónts

Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts

Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hdánts

Proto-Indo-Aryan *Hdánts

Sanskrit दत् (dat)

Sanskrit दन्त॑ (dánta)

Kalami دن

Inherited from Sanskrit दन्त॑ (dánta), from दत् (dat), from Proto-Indo-Aryan *Hdánts, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *Hdánts, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃dónts, from *h₃ed- + *-ónts.

Pronunciation

• Tone class: H
• IPA^(key): /d̪án/

Noun

دن (dan) m

1. tooth

References

• Baart, Joan L. G. (1997), “dan”, in The sounds and tones of Kalam Kohistani: with wordlist and texts (Studies in Languages of Northern Pakistan; 1)‎^[2], National Institute of Pakistan Studies, Quaid-i-Azam University; Summer Institute of Linguistics, page 85

Punjabi

Etymology

Inherited from Prakrit 𑀤𑀺𑀡 (diṇa), from Sanskrit दिन (diná).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /d̪ɪn/, [d̪ɪ̃nᵊ], /dɪɳ/, [d̪ɪ̃ɳᵊ]

Noun

دِن or دِݨ • (din or diṇ) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਦਿਨ or ਦਿਣ)

1. day; daytime (the period from sunrise till sunset)

   (by extension) the sun

   Antonym: رات (rāt)

2. day (a period of 24-hours)
3. day (from one midnight to another)
4. day; occasion
5. (in the plural) season; circumstance (ie. these days)
6. (figuratively) time
7. (figuratively) luck; fate (ie. to have good or bad luck)

Declension

Declension of دن

	singular	plural
direct	دِن (din)	دِن (din)
oblique	دِن (din)	دِناں (dināṉ)
vocative	دِنا (dinā)	دِنو (dino)
ablative	دِنوں (dinoṉ)	—
locative	دِنے (dine)	دِنِیں (dinīṉ)
instrumental	دِنوں (dinoṉ)	–

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002), “دن”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat (in Punjabi), Lahore: عزیز پبلشرز [ʻazīz pabliśarz]
• Bashir, Kanwal (2012), “دن”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Hyattsville, MD: Dunwoody Press
• “ਦਿਨ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2026
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985), “dina”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 362

Urdu

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Hindi دن (dn /⁠din⁠/) (c. 1503), from Prakrit 𑀤𑀺𑀡 (diṇa), from Sanskrit दिन (diná), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dyew-.

Cognates

Cognates include Punjabi دِݨ (diṇ) / دِن (din), Saraiki دِݨ (diṇ) and Sindhi ڏِنُ (ḍ̠iṇu).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /d̪ɪn/, [d̪ɪ̃n]

• Audio (Pakistan):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪn

Noun

دِن • (din) m (Hindi spelling दिन)

1. day (from one midnight to another)

   (by extension) the sun

2. day (a period of 24-hours)
3. (by extension)
   1. a period of time
   2. age; era
4. day; daytime (the period from sunrise till sunset)

   Antonym: رات (rāt)

5. day; occasion
6. (in the plural) season; circumstance (ie. these days)
7. (figuratively) time
8. (figuratively) luck; fate (ie. to have good or bad luck)

Declension

Declension of دن

	singular	plural
direct	دن (din)	دن (din)
oblique	دن (din)	دنوں (dinõ)
vocative	دن (din)	دنو (dino)

See also

Days of the week in Urdu · ہَفْتے کے دِن (hafte ke din) (layout · text)
پِیر (pīr), سومْوَار (somvār)	مَن٘گَل (maṅgal)	بُدھ (budh)	جُمِعْرات (jumi'rāt)	جُمْعَہ (jum'a)	سَنِیچَر (sanīcar), ہَفْتَہ (hafta), شَنْبَہ (śanba)	اِتْوَار (itvār)

Further reading

More information

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