روح

See also: روج, روچ, and زوج

Arabic

Root
ر و ح (r-w-ḥ)

Etymology 1

Etymologically related to Arabic: ريح (“wind”). From Proto-West Semitic *rūḥ-. Cognate with Hebrew רוּחַ (rúakh).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruːħ/

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) m or f (plural أَرْوَاح (ʔarwāḥ))

1. spirit (all senses), ghost
2. soul, essence, core or essential aspect required for being
3. life; spark of life, breath of life
4. breath, movement of air
5. motivation, energy, inspiration; the means to be animate or living
6. gun barrel

Declension

Declension of noun رُوح (rūḥ)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رُوح rūḥ	الرُّوح ar-rūḥ	رُوح rūḥ
Nominative	رُوحٌ rūḥun	الرُّوحُ ar-rūḥu	رُوحُ rūḥu
Accusative	رُوحًا rūḥan	الرُّوحَ ar-rūḥa	رُوحَ rūḥa
Genitive	رُوحٍ rūḥin	الرُّوحِ ar-rūḥi	رُوحِ rūḥi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رُوحَيْن rūḥayn	الرُّوحَيْن ar-rūḥayn	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
Nominative	رُوحَانِ rūḥāni	الرُّوحَانِ ar-rūḥāni	رُوحَا rūḥā
Accusative	رُوحَيْنِ rūḥayni	الرُّوحَيْنِ ar-rūḥayni	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
Genitive	رُوحَيْنِ rūḥayni	الرُّوحَيْنِ ar-rūḥayni	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
Plural	basic broken plural triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَرْوَاح ʔarwāḥ	الْأَرْوَاح al-ʔarwāḥ	أَرْوَاح ʔarwāḥ
Nominative	أَرْوَاحٌ ʔarwāḥun	الْأَرْوَاحُ al-ʔarwāḥu	أَرْوَاحُ ʔarwāḥu
Accusative	أَرْوَاحًا ʔarwāḥan	الْأَرْوَاحَ al-ʔarwāḥa	أَرْوَاحَ ʔarwāḥa
Genitive	أَرْوَاحٍ ʔarwāḥin	الْأَرْوَاحِ al-ʔarwāḥi	أَرْوَاحِ ʔarwāḥi

Derived terms

• رَاحَة الْأَرْوَاح (rāḥat al-ʔarwāḥ)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: ruh
• → Malay: roh
  • Indonesian: roh
• Maltese: ruħ
• → Ottoman Turkish: روح (ruh)

  > Turkish: ruh (inherited)

• → Persian: روح
  • → Bengali: রূহ (ruho)
  • → Hindi: रूह (rūh)
  • → Urdu: روح (roh)
• → Swahili: roho
• → Tabasaran: рюгь (rjuh)
• → Uyghur: روھ (roh)
• → Uzbek: ruh
• → Zazaki: ruh, roh

References

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

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rawħ/

Noun

رَوْح • (rawḥ) m

1. refreshment

Declension

Declension of noun رَوْح (rawḥ)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	رَوْح rawḥ	الرَّوْح ar-rawḥ	رَوْح rawḥ
Nominative	رَوْحٌ rawḥun	الرَّوْحُ ar-rawḥu	رَوْحُ rawḥu
Accusative	رَوْحًا rawḥan	الرَّوْحَ ar-rawḥa	رَوْحَ rawḥa
Genitive	رَوْحٍ rawḥin	الرَّوْحِ ar-rawḥi	رَوْحِ rawḥi

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ, “soul, spirit”).

Noun

روح • (ruh) (plural ارواح)

1. soul, the spirit of a person that lives on after one's death

   Synonyms: اوز (öz), تن (tin), جان (can), زات (zat), نفس (nefes)

2. soul, core, pith, kernel, marrow, essence of a thing

   Synonyms: اوز (öz), لب (lubb), مغز (mağz)

3. vitality, vivacity, liveliness, animation, energy
4. name of a certain angel or class of angels

Derived terms

• روحانی (ruhani, “spiritual; holy”)
• روحسز (ruhsuz, “lifeless, inanimate”)
• روحلانمق (ruhlanmak, “to become animated”)
• روحلو (ruhlu, “having a soul”)

 

Descendants

• Turkish: ruh

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “ruh”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3979
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “روح”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1], Constantinople: Mihran, page 630
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Anima”, 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^[2], Vienna, column 62
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “روح”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[3], Vienna, column 2377
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ruh”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “روح”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[4], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 992

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɾuːh]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [roːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [roːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ruː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ru]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹuːʱ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾɵʰ]

Readings
Classical reading?	rūh
Dari reading?	rūh
Iranian reading?	ruh
Tajik reading?	rüh

Noun

Dari	روح
Iranian Persian
Tajik	рӯҳ

روح • (ruh) (plural ارواح (arvâh) or روح‌ها (ruh-hâ))

1. spirit
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 56:

     روح با علم است و با عقل است یار
     روح را با تازی و ترکی چه کار

     rūh bā 'ilm u bā 'aql ast yār
     rūh rā bā tāzī u turkī či kār

     The Spirit is associated (endued) with knowledge and reason:
     what has the Spirit to do with Arabic and Turkish?

2. soul
3. essence
4. ghost

Synonyms

• روان (ravân)

Derived terms

• روحی (ruhi)
• روحانی (ruhâni)
• روحیه (ruhiye)
• بی‌روح (bêruh)

Descendants

• → Gujarati: રૂહ (rūh)

Punjabi

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /ɾuːɦᵊ/, [ɾuː˦]
• Rhymes: -uː˦

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian رُوح (rūh), from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਰੂਹ)

1. soul; spirit
2. mind (ie. heart)
3. (figuratively) intention
4. (poetic) lover; beloved

Declension

Declension of روح
dir. sg.	رُوح (rūḥ)
dir. pl.	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
vocative	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحو (rūḥo)
ablative	رُوحوں (rūḥoṉ)	—
locative	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)
instrumental	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Urdu رَوح (rauh), from Classical Persian رَوح (rawh), ultimately from Arabic رَوْح (rawḥ).

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਰੂਹ)

1. essence; extract

Declension

Declension of روح
dir. sg.	رُوح (rūḥ)
dir. pl.	رُوح (rūḥ)
	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوح (rūḥ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
vocative	رُوحا (rūḥā)	رُوحو (rūḥo)
ablative	رُوحوں (rūḥoṉ)	—
locative	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)
instrumental	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “رُوح”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “ਰੂਹ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2024

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ر و ح
16 terms

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raw.waħ/, [ˈraw.wɑħ]

• Audio (al-Lidd)

  (file)

Verb

روّح • (rawwaḥ) II (present بروّح (birawweḥ), active participle مروّح (mrawweḥ))

1. to return, to go home

   شو رايك السبت تروّح معنا ع حيفا وتضلّك أسبوع؟

   šū rāyak is-sabt trawweḥ maʕna ʕa ḥēfa w-tḍallak ʔusbūʕ

   What do you say on Saturday you come back with us to Haifa and stay for a week?

Conjugation

Conjugation of روّح (rawwaḥ)
		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّح (rawwaḥ)		روّحنا (rawwaḥna)	روّحتو (rawwaḥtu)	روّحو (rawwaḥu)
	f		روّحتي (rawwaḥti)	روّحت (rawwaḥat)
present	m	بروّح (barawweḥ)	بتروّح (bitrawweḥ)	بروّح (birawweḥ)		منروّح (minrawweḥ)	بتروّحو (bitrawwḥu)	بروّحو (birawwḥu)
	f		بتروّحي (bitrawwḥi)	بتروّح (bitrawweḥ)
subjunctive	m	اروّح (arawweḥ)	تروّح (trawweḥ)	يروّح (yrawweḥ)		نروّح (nrawweḥ)	تروّحو (trawwḥu)	يروّحو (yrawwḥu)
	f		تروّحي (trawwḥi)	تروّح (trawweḥ)
imperative	m		روّح (rawweḥ)				روّحو (rawwḥu)
	f		روّحي (rawwḥi)

See also

• رجع (rijiʕ, “to return”), عاد (ʕād, “to return”)

Etymology 2

From Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːħ/, [roːħ]

• Audio (Ramallah)

  (file)

Noun

روح • (rōḥ) f (plural أرواح (ʔarwāḥ))

1. spirit, soul

Derived terms

• طويل الروح (ṭawīl ir-rūḥ, “patient”, adj.)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian روح (rūḥ), from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ, “spirit”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾuːɦ/
• Rhymes: -uːɦ

Noun

رُوح • (rūh) f (formal plural اَرْوَاح (arvāh), Hindi spelling रूह)

1. soul, spirit

   Synonym: آتما (ātma)

2. essence, quintessence

Declension

Declension of روح
	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحیں (rūḥẽ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحوں (rūḥõ)
vocative	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحو (rūḥo)

Further reading

• “روح”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “روح”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “روح”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John Thompson (1884) “روح”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., →ISBN, →OCLC
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “روح”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “روح”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC