مصباح

Arabic

FWOTD – 21 November 2015

Etymology

Tool noun from the root ص ب ح (ṣ-b-ḥ); compare صَبْح (ṣabḥ, “dawn”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /misˤ.baːħ/

• Audio:

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Noun

مِصْبَاح • (miṣbāḥ) m (plural مَصَابِيح (maṣābīḥ))

1. (literal or figurative) lamp, light, luminary
   • 7th century CE, The Quran‎^[1]:

     مَثَلُ نُورِهِ كَمِشْكَاةٍ فِيهَا مِصْبَاحٌ

     maṯalu nūrihi kamiškātin fīhā miṣbāḥun

     The likeness of his light is like a niche with a lamp in it.

2. headlight (of a car)

Declension

Declension of noun مِصْبَاح (miṣbāḥ)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مِصْبَاح miṣbāḥ	الْمِصْبَاح al-miṣbāḥ	مِصْبَاح miṣbāḥ
Nominative	مِصْبَاحٌ miṣbāḥun	الْمِصْبَاحُ al-miṣbāḥu	مِصْبَاحُ miṣbāḥu
Accusative	مِصْبَاحًا miṣbāḥan	الْمِصْبَاحَ al-miṣbāḥa	مِصْبَاحَ miṣbāḥa
Genitive	مِصْبَاحٍ miṣbāḥin	الْمِصْبَاحِ al-miṣbāḥi	مِصْبَاحِ miṣbāḥi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مِصْبَاحَيْن miṣbāḥayn	الْمِصْبَاحَيْن al-miṣbāḥayn	مِصْبَاحَيْ miṣbāḥay
Nominative	مِصْبَاحَانِ miṣbāḥāni	الْمِصْبَاحَانِ al-miṣbāḥāni	مِصْبَاحَا miṣbāḥā
Accusative	مِصْبَاحَيْنِ miṣbāḥayni	الْمِصْبَاحَيْنِ al-miṣbāḥayni	مِصْبَاحَيْ miṣbāḥay
Genitive	مِصْبَاحَيْنِ miṣbāḥayni	الْمِصْبَاحَيْنِ al-miṣbāḥayni	مِصْبَاحَيْ miṣbāḥay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَصَابِح maṣābiḥ	الْمَصَابِح al-maṣābiḥ	مَصَابِح maṣābiḥ
Nominative	مَصَابِحُ maṣābiḥu	الْمَصَابِحُ al-maṣābiḥu	مَصَابِحُ maṣābiḥu
Accusative	مَصَابِحَ maṣābiḥa	الْمَصَابِحَ al-maṣābiḥa	مَصَابِحَ maṣābiḥa
Genitive	مَصَابِحَ maṣābiḥa	الْمَصَابِحِ al-maṣābiḥi	مَصَابِحِ maṣābiḥi

Descendants

• Maltese: musbieħ
• → Persian: مصباح (mesbâh) (obsolete)

References

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