ماء

See also: ماءُ

Arabic

مَاء

Etymology 1

Etymology tree

Proto-Afroasiatic *maʔ-

Proto-Semitic *māy-

Arabic ماء

Inherited from Proto-Semitic *māy-, from Proto-Afroasiatic *maʔ-., reanalyzed in the plural as if from root م و ه (m w h), whence the verbal derivative مَاهَ (māha), which is alternatively conjugated as deriving from م ي ه (m y h). Cognate with Hebrew מים (máyim).

Alternative forms

• مَاه (māh), مَي (may) — poetic or dialectal

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maːʔ/

Noun

مَاء • (māʔ) m (dual مَاءَان (māʔān) or مَاوَان (māwān) or مَايَان (māyān), plural مِيَاه (miyāh) or أَمْوَاه (ʔamwāh) or أَمْوَاء (ʔamwāʔ))

1. (usually uncountable) water
2. liquid, fluid
   1. the liquefied or molten form of a metal (usually gold, silver, or copper)
   2. (dated, sometimes euphemistic, of humans or animals) conceptive fluid; ejaculation

      Synonym: مَنِيّ (maniyy)

      • 7th century CE, (Please provide the book title or journal name):

        قَالَ: اللَّٰهُمَّ ٱشْهَدْ عَلَيْهِمْ، فَأَنْشُدُكُمْ بِاللهِ ٱلَّذِي لَا إِلَٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ، ٱلَّذِي أَنْزَلَ ٱلتَّوْرَاةَ عَلَى مُوسَى، هَلْ تَعْلَمُونَ أَنَّ مَاءَ ٱلرَّجُلِِ أَبْيَضُ غَلِيظٌ، وَأَنَّ مَاءَ ٱلْمَرْأَةِ أَصْفَرُ رَقِيقٌ، فَأَيُّهُمَا عَلَا كَانَ لَهُ ٱلْوَلَدُ وَٱلشَّبَهُ بِإِذْنِ اللهِ؟ إِنْ عَلَا مَاءُ ٱلرَّجُلِ عَلَى مَاءِ ٱلْمَرْأَةِ كَانَ ذَكَرًا بِإِذْنِ اللهِ، وَإِنْ عَلَا مَاءُ ٱلْمَرْأةِ عَلَى مَاءِ ٱلرَّجُلِ كَانَ أُنْثَى بِإِذْنِ اللهِ؟، قَالُوا: ٱللَّٰهُمَّ نَعَمْ

        qāla: allāhumma šhad ʕalayhim, faʔanšudukum bi-l-lāhi llaḏī lā ʔilāha ʔillā huwa, llaḏī ʔanzala t-tawrāta ʕalā mūsā, hal taʕlamūna ʔanna māʔa r-rajulii ʔabyaḍu ḡalīẓun, waʔanna māʔa l-marʔati ʔaṣfaru raqīqun, faʔayyuhumā ʕalā kāna lahu l-waladu waš-šabahu biʔiḏni llāhi? ʔin ʕalā māʔu r-rajuli ʕalā māʔi l-marʔati kāna ḏakaran biʔiḏni llāhi, waʔin ʕalā māʔu l-marʔati ʕalā māʔi r-rajuli kāna ʔunṯā biʔiḏni llāhi?, qālū: llāhumma naʕam

        [Then] he [the Prophet] said, “O Allah, bear witness to what they say! By Allah, who is the only god and who revealed the Torah to Moses, do you not know that the fluid of men is white and thick and that of women is yellow and thin? The gender and the looks of the offspring are determined by [literally "belong to"] whichever of them rises [or predominates]: if the fluid of the man rises above [or overpowers] the woman's, the child becomes a male if Allah wills it, and if the fluid of the woman rises above [or overpowers] the man's, the child becomes a female if Allah wills it. [Do you not already know this?]" [Thus,] they [the Jews] said, "By Allah, yes.”

Usage notes

• All the alternative forms are either chiefly poetic or dialectal. The dual forms are also almost never used. Conversely, the plural form مِيَاه (miyāh) is fairly common.
• In the sense “ejaculation”, the word, as well as مَنِيّ (maniyy), may be used freely to refer to humans and animals. Medieval Arabic sources typically do not lexically distinguish between male and female ejaculation as both are conceived as determining factors in conception in a manner analogous to, albeit different from, Aristotle's inheritance model. Modern sources, however, typically emphasize a distinction between the two, thus limiting the use of مَنِيّ (maniyy) to male ejaculation.

Declension

Declension of noun مَاء (māʔ)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَاء māʔ	الْمَاء al-māʔ	مَاء māʔ
nominative	مَاءٌ māʔun	الْمَاءُ al-māʔu	مَاءُ māʔu
accusative	مَاءً māʔan	الْمَاءَ al-māʔa	مَاءَ māʔa
genitive	مَاءٍ māʔin	الْمَاءِ al-māʔi	مَاءِ māʔi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَاءَيْن‎; مَاوَيْن‎; مَايَيْن māʔayn‎; māwayn‎; māyayn	الْمَاءَيْن‎; الْمَاوَيْن‎; الْمَايَيْن al-māʔayn‎; al-māwayn‎; al-māyayn	مَاءَيْ‎; مَاوَيْ‎; مَايَيْ māʔay‎; māway‎; māyay
nominative	مَاءَانِ‎; مَاوَانِ‎; مَايَانِ māʔāni‎; māwāni‎; māyāni	الْمَاءَانِ‎; الْمَاوَانِ‎; الْمَايَانِ al-māʔāni‎; al-māwāni‎; al-māyāni	مَاءَا‎; مَاوَا‎; مَايَا māʔā‎; māwā‎; māyā
accusative	مَاءَيْنِ‎; مَاوَيْنِ‎; مَايَيْنِ māʔayni‎; māwayni‎; māyayni	الْمَاءَيْنِ‎; الْمَاوَيْنِ‎; الْمَايَيْنِ al-māʔayni‎; al-māwayni‎; al-māyayni	مَاءَيْ‎; مَاوَيْ‎; مَايَيْ māʔay‎; māway‎; māyay
genitive	مَاءَيْنِ‎; مَاوَيْنِ‎; مَايَيْنِ māʔayni‎; māwayni‎; māyayni	الْمَاءَيْنِ‎; الْمَاوَيْنِ‎; الْمَايَيْنِ al-māʔayni‎; al-māwayni‎; al-māyayni	مَاءَيْ‎; مَاوَيْ‎; مَايَيْ māʔay‎; māway‎; māyay
plural	basic broken plural triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مِيَاه‎; أَمْوَاه miyāh‎; ʔamwāh	الْمِيَاه‎; الْأَمْوَاه al-miyāh‎; al-ʔamwāh	مِيَاه‎; أَمْوَاه miyāh‎; ʔamwāh
nominative	مِيَاهٌ‎; أَمْوَاهٌ miyāhun‎; ʔamwāhun	الْمِيَاهُ‎; الْأَمْوَاهُ al-miyāhu‎; al-ʔamwāhu	مِيَاهُ‎; أَمْوَاهُ miyāhu‎; ʔamwāhu
accusative	مِيَاهًا‎; أَمْوَاهًا miyāhan‎; ʔamwāhan	الْمِيَاهَ‎; الْأَمْوَاهَ al-miyāha‎; al-ʔamwāha	مِيَاهَ‎; أَمْوَاهَ miyāha‎; ʔamwāha
genitive	مِيَاهٍ‎; أَمْوَاهٍ miyāhin‎; ʔamwāhin	الْمِيَاهِ‎; الْأَمْوَاهِ al-miyāhi‎; al-ʔamwāhi	مِيَاهِ‎; أَمْوَاهِ miyāhi‎; ʔamwāhi

Derived terms

• مَاء وَرْد (māʔ ward)
• مَائِيّ (māʔiyy, “aquatic”)
• مَاوِيّ (aquatic)

Related terms

• مَاءَة (māʔa), مَاهَة (māha), مَاة (māh)
• مُوَيْه (muwayh, “little water”)

Descendants

• Algerian Arabic: ما (mā)
• Andalusian Arabic: ما (mā)
• Baharna Arabic: مي (me)
• Chadian Arabic: المي (almi)
• Hassaniya Arabic: ما (ma)
• Libyan Arabic: مي (me)
• Maltese: ilma
• Moroccan Arabic: ما (mā)

(from the diminutive مُوَيْه (muwayh))

• Egyptian Arabic: مية (mayya)
• Gulf Arabic: ماي (māy)
• Hijazi Arabic: موية (mōya)
• Iraqi Arabic: ماي (māy)
• North Levantine Arabic: مَي (may)
• South Levantine Arabic: مي (ṃayy)
• Sudanese Arabic: موية (mōya)
  • Juba Arabic: moya
  • Nubi: moyo

References

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

Etymology 2

Root
م و ء (m w ʔ)
1 term

Onomatopoeic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maː.ʔa/

Verb

مَاءَ • (māʔa) I (non-past يَمُوءُ (yamūʔu), verbal noun مُوَاء (muwāʔ) or مَوْء (mawʔ))

1. to meow

Conjugation

Conjugation of مَاءَ (I, hollow, a ~ u, no passive, verbal nouns مُوَاء, مَوْء)

verbal noun الْمَصْدَر						مُوَاء, مَوْء muwāʔ, mawʔ
active participle اِسْم الْفَاعِل						مَاءٍ māʔin
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	مُؤْتُ muʔtu	مُؤْتَ muʔta	مَاءَ māʔa		مُؤْتُمَا muʔtumā	مَاءَا māʔā		مُؤْنَا muʔnā	مُؤْتُمْ muʔtum	مَائُوا, مَاؤُوا māʔū
	f		مُؤْتِ muʔti	مَاءَتْ māʔat			مَاءَتَا māʔatā			مُؤْتُنَّ muʔtunna	مُؤْنَ muʔna
non-past (imperfect) indicative الْمُضَارِع الْمَرْفُوع	m	أَمُوءُ ʔamūʔu	تَمُوءُ tamūʔu	يَمُوءُ yamūʔu		تَمُوءَانِ tamūʔāni	يَمُوءَانِ yamūʔāni		نَمُوءُ namūʔu	تَمُوئُونَ, تَمُوءُونَ tamūʔūna	يَمُوئُونَ, يَمُوءُونَ yamūʔūna
	f		تَمُوئِينَ tamūʔīna	تَمُوءُ tamūʔu			تَمُوءَانِ tamūʔāni			تَمُؤْنَ tamuʔna	يَمُؤْنَ yamuʔna
subjunctive الْمُضَارِع الْمَنْصُوب	m	أَمُوءَ ʔamūʔa	تَمُوءَ tamūʔa	يَمُوءَ yamūʔa		تَمُوءَا tamūʔā	يَمُوءَا yamūʔā		نَمُوءَ namūʔa	تَمُوئُوا, تَمُوءُوا tamūʔū	يَمُوئُوا, يَمُوءُوا yamūʔū
	f		تَمُوئِي tamūʔī	تَمُوءَ tamūʔa			تَمُوءَا tamūʔā			تَمُؤْنَ tamuʔna	يَمُؤْنَ yamuʔna
jussive الْمُضَارِع الْمَجْزُوم	m	أَمُؤْ ʔamuʔ	تَمُؤْ tamuʔ	يَمُؤْ yamuʔ		تَمُوءَا tamūʔā	يَمُوءَا yamūʔā		نَمُؤْ namuʔ	تَمُوئُوا, تَمُوءُوا tamūʔū	يَمُوئُوا, يَمُوءُوا yamūʔū
	f		تَمُوئِي tamūʔī	تَمُؤْ tamuʔ			تَمُوءَا tamūʔā			تَمُؤْنَ tamuʔna	يَمُؤْنَ yamuʔna
imperative الْأَمْر	m		مُؤْ muʔ			مُوءَا mūʔā				مُوئُوا, مُوءُوا mūʔū
	f		مُوئِي mūʔī							مُؤْنَ muʔna

Further reading

• ماء on the Arabic Wikipedia.Wikipedia ^ar

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic مَاء (māʔ)

Pronunciation

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

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mɑ́ːʔ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mɑ́ːʔ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mɒ́ːʔ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mɔ́ʔ]

Readings
Classical reading?	mā'
Dari reading?	mā'
Iranian reading?	mâ'
Tajik reading?	mo'

Noun

ماء • (mâ')

1. water

   Synonym: (more common) آب (âb)

2. liquid, juice
3. liquor

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian مَاء (mā'), from Arabic مَاء (māʔ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mɑː(ʔ)/

Noun

ماء • (māʾ) m

1. water, juice, liquid

   Synonym: پانی (pānī)

References

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