لوہا

Urdu

FWOTD – 16 November 2023

Etymology

Inherited from Sauraseni Prakrit 𑀮𑁄𑀳 (loha), from Sanskrit लोह (lōhá). First attested as Old Hindi لوہا (lohā) in 1564 A.D.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /loː.ɦɑː/

• Audio (PK)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɑː
• Hyphenation: لو‧ہا

Noun

لوہا • (lohā) m (Hindi spelling लोहा)

1. iron (Fe)

   Synonym: آہَن (āhan)

2. (by extension) an object made from metal

   Synonym: اِسْتْری (istrī)

   • 1989, وزیر آغا [ozer āġā, Wazir Agha], سمندر اگر میرے اندر گرے [samandar agar mere andar gire, If the ocean falls inside of me]‎^[1], Lahore: مکتبۂ فکرِ خیال [Maktaba-yi fikar o xayāl], →OCLC, page 57:

     یکایک یہ کھلونا کپڑے یا لوہے یا ربڑ یا پلاسٹک کی بنی ہوئی شے نہیں رہ جاتا بلکہ باقاعدہ سانس لینے، ہنسنے، رونے، بگڑنے یا پیار کرنے لگتا ہے۔

     yakāyak yih khilonā kapṛe yā lohe yā rabaṛ yā pilāsṭik kī banī hū'ī śai nahīṉ rah jātā balkih bāqā‘idah sāns lene, hansne, rone, bigaṛne ya pyar karne lagtā hai.

     Suddenly, this toy is no longer an object [deduced to something merely] made from cloth or metal, or rubber, or plastic, but rather begins to breathe, laugh, cry, corrode or love.

3. (figuratively) a sword

   Synonym: تَلْوَار (talvār)

   • 1880, محمد حسین جاہ [Muhammad Husain Jah], طلسمِ فصاحت [T̤ilism-i faṣāḥat]‎^[2], →OCLC, page 191:

     لوہا صاف ہوا کیا ہر ایک عازم دشت معاف ہوا

     lohā ṣāf hūa kya har aek ʻāzam-e daśt muʻāf hūa

     [Indeed] the cleansing of the sword was as if every pilgrim of the plains was forgiven

4. (figuratively) pomp, hold

   Synonym: دھاک (dhāk)

   • 1918, آفتابِ دمشق [āftāb-e damiśq], page 96:

     جن کی شجاعت کا لوہا تمام ملک میں مشہور تھا۔

     jin kī śujā‘at kā lohā tamām mulk meṉ maśhūr thā

     Whose pomp of courage was famous across the country.

   • 2018 January 22, ڈاکٹر عبد القدیر خان [Dr. Abdul Qadeer Khan], “نوادرات [navādirāt]”, in جنگ [Jang]:

     میں محسن بھائی کو بھوپال سے جانتا ہوں۔ بچپن میں ہی اپنی شاعری کا لوہا منوا لیا تھا۔

     maiṉ muḥsin bhā'ī ko bhopāl se jāntā hūṉ. bacpan meṉ hī apnī śā‘irī kā lohā manvā liya thā.

     I know [my] buddy Mohsin from Bhopal. Even in our youth, he had convinced me of his hold on poetry.

5. (literally) clothes iron (appliance used by tailors and washers)

Declension

Declension of لوہا
	singular	plural
direct	لوہا (lohā)	لوہے (lohe)
oblique	لوہے (lohe)	لوہوں (lohõ)
vocative	لوہے (lohe)	لوہو (loho)

Adjective

لوہا • (lohā) (indeclinable, Hindi spelling लोहा)

1. (figuratively) strong, heavy, stiff, hard

Further reading

• “لوہا”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “لوہا”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “لوہا”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Turner, Ralph Lilley (1969–1985) “lōhá”, in A Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages, London: Oxford University Press, page 650