ضبط

Arabic

Root
ض ب ط (ḍ b ṭ)
7 terms

Etymology 1

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ- (“to seize, take hold of, catch”). Compare Akkadian 𒍝𒁀𒌈 (ṣabātum, “to seize”) and Biblical Hebrew צָבַט (ṣɔbaṭ, “to reach, hold”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dˤa.ba.tˤa/

Verb

ضَبَطَ • (ḍabaṭa) I (non-past يَضْبِطُ (yaḍbiṭu), verbal noun ضَبْط (ḍabṭ))

1. to do something accurately
2. to confiscate
3. to check up, to check out
4. to regulate, to adjust, to fix, to set
5. to guard, to take care of

Conjugation

Conjugation of ضَبَطَ (I, sound, a ~ i, full passive, verbal noun ضَبْط)

verbal noun الْمَصْدَر						ضَبْط ḍabṭ
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل						ضَابِط ḍābiṭ
passive participle اِسْم الْمَفْعُول						مَضْبُوط maḍbūṭ
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	ضَبَطْتُ ḍabaṭtu	ضَبَطْتَ ḍabaṭta	ضَبَطَ ḍabaṭa		ضَبَطْتُمَا ḍabaṭtumā	ضَبَطَا ḍabaṭā		ضَبَطْنَا ḍabaṭnā	ضَبَطْتُمْ ḍabaṭtum	ضَبَطُوا ḍabaṭū
	f		ضَبَطْتِ ḍabaṭti	ضَبَطَتْ ḍabaṭat			ضَبَطَتَا ḍabaṭatā			ضَبَطْتُنَّ ḍabaṭtunna	ضَبَطْنَ ḍabaṭna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَضْبِطُ ʔaḍbiṭu	تَضْبِطُ taḍbiṭu	يَضْبِطُ yaḍbiṭu		تَضْبِطَانِ taḍbiṭāni	يَضْبِطَانِ yaḍbiṭāni		نَضْبِطُ naḍbiṭu	تَضْبِطُونَ taḍbiṭūna	يَضْبِطُونَ yaḍbiṭūna
	f		تَضْبِطِينَ taḍbiṭīna	تَضْبِطُ taḍbiṭu			تَضْبِطَانِ taḍbiṭāni			تَضْبِطْنَ taḍbiṭna	يَضْبِطْنَ yaḍbiṭna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَضْبِطَ ʔaḍbiṭa	تَضْبِطَ taḍbiṭa	يَضْبِطَ yaḍbiṭa		تَضْبِطَا taḍbiṭā	يَضْبِطَا yaḍbiṭā		نَضْبِطَ naḍbiṭa	تَضْبِطُوا taḍbiṭū	يَضْبِطُوا yaḍbiṭū
	f		تَضْبِطِي taḍbiṭī	تَضْبِطَ taḍbiṭa			تَضْبِطَا taḍbiṭā			تَضْبِطْنَ taḍbiṭna	يَضْبِطْنَ yaḍbiṭna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَضْبِطْ ʔaḍbiṭ	تَضْبِطْ taḍbiṭ	يَضْبِطْ yaḍbiṭ		تَضْبِطَا taḍbiṭā	يَضْبِطَا yaḍbiṭā		نَضْبِطْ naḍbiṭ	تَضْبِطُوا taḍbiṭū	يَضْبِطُوا yaḍbiṭū
	f		تَضْبِطِي taḍbiṭī	تَضْبِطْ taḍbiṭ			تَضْبِطَا taḍbiṭā			تَضْبِطْنَ taḍbiṭna	يَضْبِطْنَ yaḍbiṭna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		اِضْبِطْ iḍbiṭ			اِضْبِطَا iḍbiṭā				اِضْبِطُوا iḍbiṭū
	f		اِضْبِطِي iḍbiṭī							اِضْبِطْنَ iḍbiṭna
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	ضُبِطْتُ ḍubiṭtu	ضُبِطْتَ ḍubiṭta	ضُبِطَ ḍubiṭa		ضُبِطْتُمَا ḍubiṭtumā	ضُبِطَا ḍubiṭā		ضُبِطْنَا ḍubiṭnā	ضُبِطْتُمْ ḍubiṭtum	ضُبِطُوا ḍubiṭū
	f		ضُبِطْتِ ḍubiṭti	ضُبِطَتْ ḍubiṭat			ضُبِطَتَا ḍubiṭatā			ضُبِطْتُنَّ ḍubiṭtunna	ضُبِطْنَ ḍubiṭna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أُضْبَطُ ʔuḍbaṭu	تُضْبَطُ tuḍbaṭu	يُضْبَطُ yuḍbaṭu		تُضْبَطَانِ tuḍbaṭāni	يُضْبَطَانِ yuḍbaṭāni		نُضْبَطُ nuḍbaṭu	تُضْبَطُونَ tuḍbaṭūna	يُضْبَطُونَ yuḍbaṭūna
	f		تُضْبَطِينَ tuḍbaṭīna	تُضْبَطُ tuḍbaṭu			تُضْبَطَانِ tuḍbaṭāni			تُضْبَطْنَ tuḍbaṭna	يُضْبَطْنَ yuḍbaṭna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أُضْبَطَ ʔuḍbaṭa	تُضْبَطَ tuḍbaṭa	يُضْبَطَ yuḍbaṭa		تُضْبَطَا tuḍbaṭā	يُضْبَطَا yuḍbaṭā		نُضْبَطَ nuḍbaṭa	تُضْبَطُوا tuḍbaṭū	يُضْبَطُوا yuḍbaṭū
	f		تُضْبَطِي tuḍbaṭī	تُضْبَطَ tuḍbaṭa			تُضْبَطَا tuḍbaṭā			تُضْبَطْنَ tuḍbaṭna	يُضْبَطْنَ yuḍbaṭna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أُضْبَطْ ʔuḍbaṭ	تُضْبَطْ tuḍbaṭ	يُضْبَطْ yuḍbaṭ		تُضْبَطَا tuḍbaṭā	يُضْبَطَا yuḍbaṭā		نُضْبَطْ nuḍbaṭ	تُضْبَطُوا tuḍbaṭū	يُضْبَطُوا yuḍbaṭū
	f		تُضْبَطِي tuḍbaṭī	تُضْبَطْ tuḍbaṭ			تُضْبَطَا tuḍbaṭā			تُضْبَطْنَ tuḍbaṭna	يُضْبَطْنَ yuḍbaṭna

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: ظبط (ẓabaṭ)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Arabic ضبط

Noun

ضَبْط • (ḍabṭ) m

1. verbal noun of ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa) (form I)
2. verification
3. apprehension
4. correction, rectification
5. correctness, accuracy, exactness

Declension

Declension of noun ضَبْط (ḍabṭ)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	ضَبْط ḍabṭ	الضَّبْط aḍ-ḍabṭ	ضَبْط ḍabṭ
nominative	ضَبْطٌ ḍabṭun	الضَّبْطُ aḍ-ḍabṭu	ضَبْطُ ḍabṭu
accusative	ضَبْطًا ḍabṭan	الضَّبْطَ aḍ-ḍabṭa	ضَبْطَ ḍabṭa
genitive	ضَبْطٍ ḍabṭin	الضَّبْطِ aḍ-ḍabṭi	ضَبْطِ ḍabṭi

Derived terms

• بِٱلضَّبْطِ (bi-ḍ-ḍabṭi)

Descendants

• → Middle Armenian: զաւթ (zawtʻ), զաֆտ (zaft)
• → Azerbaijani: zəbt
  • Armenian: զավթ (zavtʻ), զաֆթ (zaftʻ), զափտ (zapʻt)
• → Ottoman Turkish: ضبط
  • → Romanian: zapt
  • → Serbo-Croatian:

    Cyrillic script: запт

    Latin script: zapt

  • Turkish: zapt
• → Persian: ضبط
  • → Middle Bengali: জব্ত (jobto)
    • Bengali: জব্দ (jobdo)
  • → Gujarati: જપ્ત (japt)
  • → Hindustani:

    Hindi: ज़ब्त (zabt), जब्त (jabt) — nuqtaless, ज़प्त (zapt) — colloquial, जप्त (japt) — colloquial, nuqtaless

    Urdu: ضبط (zabt)

  • → Marathi: जप्त (j̈apta)
  • → Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਜ਼ਬਤ (zabat), ਜਬਤ (jabat) — nuqtaless

    Shahmukhi script: ضَبط (ẓabt̤)

  • → Tamil: ஜப்தி (japti), சப்தி (capti)
• → Swahili: -dhibiti
• → Uzbek: zabt

References

• “ضبط” in Almaany
• Баранов, Х. К. (2011), “ضبط”, in Большой арабско-русский словарь (Bolʹšoj arabsko-russkij slovarʹ), 11th edition, Москва: Живой язык, →ISBN
• Lane, Edward William (1863-1893), “ضبط”, in Arabic-English Lexicon, London: Williams & Norgate.
• Wehr, Hans (1979), “ضبط”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Gulf Arabic ضبط

Inherited from Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa), from Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ- (“to seize, take hold of, catch”).

Pronunciation

• (Kuwait) IPA^(key): /ˈðˤəbːətˤ/

Verb

ضَبَّط • (ḏ̣abbaṭ) (imperfect يضَبِّط (yḏ̣abbiṭ))

1. to hook someone up (provide with needs, give special treatment, etc)
2. to hook up with someone (get acquainted with someone in order to form a romantic relationship)
3. to bring to order, to fix, to hook up

Hijazi Arabic

Root
ض ب ط
1 term

Etymology 1

Inherited from Arabic ضَبَّطَ (ḍabbaṭa).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zˤab.batˤ/, /dˤab.batˤ/

Verb

ضبط • (ẓabbaṭ) II (non-past يِضَبِّط (yiẓabbiṭ))

1. to do something accurately
2. to regulate, to adjust, to fix, to set

   Alternative form: (non-standard spelling) زَبَّط (ẓabbaṭ)

Conjugation

Conjugation of ضبط

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	ضبطت (ẓabbaṭt)	ضبطت (ẓabbaṭt)	ضبط (ẓabbaṭ)		ضبطنا (ẓabbaṭna)	ضبطتوا (ẓabbaṭtu)	ضبطوا (ẓabbaṭu)
	f		ضبطتي (ẓabbaṭti)	ضبطت (ẓabbaṭat)
non-past	m	أضبط (ʔaẓabbiṭ)	تضبط (tiẓabbiṭ)	يضبط (yiẓabbiṭ)		نضبط (niẓabbiṭ)	تضبطوا (tiẓabbiṭu)	يضبطوا (yiẓabbiṭu)
	f		تضبطي (tiẓabbiṭi)	تضبط (tiẓabbiṭ)
imperative	m		ضبط (ẓabbiṭ)				ضبطوا (ẓabbiṭu)
	f		ضبطي (ẓabbiṭi)

Etymology 2

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Hijazi Arabic ضبط

Inherited from Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa), from Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ- (“to seize, take hold of, catch”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zˤa.batˤ/, /dˤa.batˤ/

Verb

ضبط • (ẓabaṭ) I (non-past يِضَبُط (yiẓbuṭ))

1. to be fixed
2. to be corrected

   Alternative form: (non-standard spelling) زَبَط (ẓabaṭ)

Conjugation

Conjugation of ضبط

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	ضبطت (ẓabaṭt)	ضبطت (ẓabaṭt)	ضبط (ẓabaṭ)		ضبطنا (ẓabaṭna)	ضبطتوا (ẓabaṭtu)	ضبطوا (ẓabaṭu)
	f		ضبطتي (ẓabaṭti)	ضبطت (ẓabaṭat)
non-past	m	أضبط (ʔaẓbuṭ)	تضبط (tiẓbuṭ)	يضبط (yiẓbuṭ)		نضبط (niẓbuṭ)	تضبطوا (tiẓbuṭu)	يضبطوا (yiẓbuṭu)
	f		تضبطي (tiẓbuṭi)	تضبط (tiẓbuṭ)
imperative	m		اضبط (aẓbuṭ)				اضبطوا (aẓbuṭu)
	f		اضبطي (aẓbuṭi)

Notes

The roots ⟨ض ب ط⟩ and ⟨ض ر ط⟩ are the only roots where ض is pronounced /zˤ/ instead of the standard /dˤ/.

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ)bor.

Ottoman Turkish ضبط

Borrowed from Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ).

Noun

ضبط • (zabt)

1. seizure
   • 2016, DICE, Battlefield 1 (Historical Fiction), Stockholm: Electronic Arts, PC, Xbox One, Playstation 4, scene: Ottoman Squad Leader Gameplay, set between 1914-1918:

     بو هدفی ضبط ا‌یدمه‌یجكلر، مدافعه ایدڭ

     bu hedefi zabt edemeyecekler, müdafaa edin!

     They won't manage to capture this objective, defend it!

Descendants

• → Romanian: zapt
• → Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic script: запт

  Latin script: zapt

• Turkish: zapt

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ)bor.

Persian ضبط

Borrowed from Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈzabt/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zäbt̪]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [zäbt̪]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [zäbt̪]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [zäbt̪]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [zæbt̪ʰ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [zäbt̪]

• Rhymes: -abt

Readings
Classical reading?	zabt
Dari reading?	zabt
Iranian reading?	zabt
Tajik reading?	zabt

Noun

ضبط • (zabt) (plural ضبط‌ها (zabt-hā / zabt-hâ), Tajik spelling забт)

1. confiscation
2. record; archive
3. cassette, tape; recording
4. (dated) restraining; holding fast to
5. (dated) management; control

Derived terms

• ضبط صوت (zabt-i sawt / zabt-e sowt, “tape recorder”)
• ضبط کردن (zabt kardan, “to record; to confiscate”)

Descendants

• → Middle Bengali: জব্ত (jobto)
  • Bengali: জব্দ (jobdo)
• → Gujarati: જપ્ત (japt)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: ज़ब्त (zabt), जब्त (jabt) — nuqtaless, ज़प्त (zapt) — colloquial, जप्त (japt) — colloquial, nuqtaless

  Urdu: ضبط (zabt)

• → Marathi: जप्त (j̈apta)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਜ਼ਬਤ (zabat), ਜਬਤ (jabat) — nuqtaless

  Shahmukhi script: ضَبط (ẓabt̤)

• → Tamil: ஜப்தி (japti), சப்தி (capti)

South Levantine Arabic

Etymology 1

Verb

ضبط • (ẓabaṭ) I (present بضبط (boẓboṭ))

1. alternative spelling of زبط (ẓabaṭ)

Etymology 2

Noun

ضبط • (ẓabṭ) m

1. alternative spelling of زبط (ẓabṭ)

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *ṣbṭ-

Arabic ضَبَطَ (ḍabaṭa)

Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ)bor.

Classical Persian ضَبْط (zabt)bor.

Urdu ضبط

Borrowed from Classical Persian ضَبْط (zabt), borrowed from Arabic ضَبْط (ḍabṭ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /zəbt̪/

Adjective

ضَبْط • (zabt) (Hindi spelling ज़ब्त)

1. seized, confiscated

Noun

ضَبْط • (zabt) m (Hindi spelling ज़ब्त)

1. seizing, confiscation
2. control, composure

References

• “ضبط”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “ضبط”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.