nikah

See also: nikâh

English

Alternative forms

• nikaah, nicka

Etymology

From Arabic نِكَاح (nikāḥ, “marriage, acceptance of dowry”), from the root ن ك ح (nkḥ, "combine, merge").

Noun

nikah (countable and uncountable, plural nikahs)

1. (Islam, inexact) A Muslim wedding.
   • 2015 July 29, “The Skype ceremony – the young Tajiks getting married online”, in The Guardian‎^[1]:

     There are no official statistics on how many Tajiks have married via Skype, but we spoke to five couples who said they performed the Islamic wedding ceremony nikah through the video chat service, which they say is becoming even more common in more the country’s rural areas.

2. (Islam) An Islamic marriage contract, especially (inexact) short for nikah 'urfi, any of various Islamic customary marriage procedures providing limited legal rights.
   • 1860 February 4, Edmund F. Moore & al., English Reports, Vol. XIX: Privy Council, Vol. VIII: Indian Appeals, Vol. 7, Mahomed Bauker Hoossain Khan Bahadoor vs. Shurfoon Nissa Begum, p. 482:

     The Respondent also left a state of facts with the Master, which stated that... Oomdut Ool Oomrah had one shadee wife, Doolary Begum, and four nicka wives, namely Coolsoom Begum, Chattoore Begum, Mahtaub Begum, and Hyath Begum, and no others.

   • 1890, Namdivada R. Narasimmha Aiyer et al., The Mahamadan Law..., 4th edition, Chapter 2, §17:

     There is no difference between Nikha and Shadee marriages; as the offspring of both the marriages inherit equally.

   • 2016, Tauseef Fatima, “Question of Marriage and Legitimacy in the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Century Colonial India”, in Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, volume 77, page 516:

     Instances are also found where different kinds of marriages were performed between the parties, and on the basis of these forms of marriages, status of legitimacy was claimed, such as nicka marriage (an inferior kind of marriage among Muslims where only declaration and acceptance was required to make it a valid marriage)...

Anagrams

• Nakhi, ḳinah

Azerbaijani

Other scripts

Cyrillic		никаһ
Arabic	classical sp	نکاح
	modern Iranian sp

Alternative forms

• nigah (colloquial)

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic نِكَاح (nikāḥ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [niˈcɑh], [niˈc͡çɑh]

• Audio (Baku):

  (file)

• (colloquial) IPA^(key): [niˈɟɑh], [niˈɟ͡ʝɑh] (as if spelled nigah)
• Hyphenation: ni‧kah

Noun

nikah (definite accusative nikahı, plural nikahlar)

1. marriage

   Synonym: evlilik

   Nikahımız bitdi! ― Our marriage is over!

2. nuptials, wedding ceremony

Declension

Declension of nikah

	singular	plural
nominative	nikah	nikahlar
definite accusative	nikahı	nikahları
dative	nikaha	nikahlara
locative	nikahda	nikahlarda
ablative	nikahdan	nikahlardan
definite genitive	nikahın	nikahların

Possessive forms of nikah

	nominative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahım	nikahlarım
sənin (“your”)	nikahın	nikahların
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahı	nikahları
bizim (“our”)	nikahımız	nikahlarımız
sizin (“your”)	nikahınız	nikahlarınız
onların (“their”)	nikahı or nikahları	nikahları
	accusative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahımı	nikahlarımı
sənin (“your”)	nikahını	nikahlarını
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahını	nikahlarını
bizim (“our”)	nikahımızı	nikahlarımızı
sizin (“your”)	nikahınızı	nikahlarınızı
onların (“their”)	nikahını or nikahlarını	nikahlarını
	dative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahıma	nikahlarıma
sənin (“your”)	nikahına	nikahlarına
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahına	nikahlarına
bizim (“our”)	nikahımıza	nikahlarımıza
sizin (“your”)	nikahınıza	nikahlarınıza
onların (“their”)	nikahına or nikahlarına	nikahlarına
	locative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahımda	nikahlarımda
sənin (“your”)	nikahında	nikahlarında
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahında	nikahlarında
bizim (“our”)	nikahımızda	nikahlarımızda
sizin (“your”)	nikahınızda	nikahlarınızda
onların (“their”)	nikahında or nikahlarında	nikahlarında
	ablative
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahımdan	nikahlarımdan
sənin (“your”)	nikahından	nikahlarından
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahından	nikahlarından
bizim (“our”)	nikahımızdan	nikahlarımızdan
sizin (“your”)	nikahınızdan	nikahlarınızdan
onların (“their”)	nikahından or nikahlarından	nikahlarından
	genitive
	singular	plural
mənim (“my”)	nikahımın	nikahlarımın
sənin (“your”)	nikahının	nikahlarının
onun (“his/her/its”)	nikahının	nikahlarının
bizim (“our”)	nikahımızın	nikahlarımızın
sizin (“your”)	nikahınızın	nikahlarınızın
onların (“their”)	nikahının or nikahlarının	nikahlarının

Derived terms

• təknikahlılıq (“monogamy”)
• çoxnikahlılıq (“polygamy”)
• nikahlamaq (“to wed”, transitive)
  • nikahlanmaq (“to wed”, reciprocal or intransitive)
• nikahlı (“married”)

Collocations

marriage

• xoşbəxt nikah ― happy marriage
• vətəndaşlıq nikahı ― civil marriage
• vətəndaş nikahı ― cohabitation
• qanunsuz nikah ― illegitimate marriage
• qeyd edilmiş nikah ― registered marriage
• dini nikah ― religious marriage
• nikahın etibarsızlığı ― invalidity of marriage
• nikah bağlamaq ― to conclude a marriage
• nikaha daxil olmaq ― to enter into marriage
• nikahı pozmaq ― to dissolve the marriage
• nikah ittifaqı ― marital union
• nikah yaşı ― marriage (marriageable) age
• nikah müqaviləsi ― prenuptial agreement
• nikah kəsmək ― to wed (to perform the marriage ceremony for; to join in matrimony)

References

• Orucov, Əliheydər, editor (2006), “nikah”, in Azərbaycan dilinin izahlı lüğəti [Explanatory Dictionary of the Azerbaijani Language]‎^[2] (in Azerbaijani), 2nd edition, volume 3, Baku: Şərq-Qərb, pages 489-490

Indonesian

Etymology

Inherited from Malay nikah, from Arabic نِكَاح (nikāḥ).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Indonesian) IPA^(key): /ˈnikah/ [ˈni.kah]
• Rhymes: -ikah
• Syllabification: ni‧kah

Noun

nikah (plural nikah-nikah)

1. marriage

   Synonym: perkawinan

Usage notes

In everyday speech, nikah is preferred over kawin, since kawin tends to refer to the mating of non-human animals.

Derived terms

• menikah
• menikahi
• menikahkan
• pernikahan

Further reading

• “nikah”, in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia [Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language] (in Indonesian), Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016

Javanese

Javanese writing system
Carakan	ꦤꦶꦏꦃ
Pegon
Roman	nikah

Alternative forms

• ningkah

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic نِكَاح (nikāḥ).

Noun

nikah

1. formal marriage ceremony

References

• Horne, Elinor Clark (1974), “nikah”, in English Javanese Vocabulary, Yale University Press, New Haven and London, page 402

Malay

Etymology

From Arabic نِكَاح (nikāḥ, “marriage; matrimony”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈnikah/ [ˈni.kah]
• Rhymes: -kah, -ah
• Hyphenation: ni‧kah

Noun

nikah (Jawi spelling نيکح, plural nikah-nikah)

1. marriage; matrimony; wedding (the legally or formally recognized union of two people, especially in the context of Islamic law).

   Synonyms: kahwin, perkahwinan

   Majlis nikah akan diadakan di masjid.

   The marriage ceremony will be held at the mosque.

Verb

nikah (Jawi spelling نيکح)

1. to marry; to wed.

   Synonym: kahwin

   Mereka berdua akan nikah bulan depan.

   The two of them will marry next month.

Usage notes

• In formal or written Malay, the active affixed forms bernikah (intransitive: to get married) or menikahi (transitive: to marry someone) are more commonly used than the bare root word.

Derived terms

Affixations

• bernikah (“to marry; to be married”)
• dinikahkan (“to be married off”)
• menikahi (“to marry someone”)
• menikahkan (“to marry off; to officiate a marriage”)
• pernikahan (“marriage; wedding”)

Compounds

• akad nikah (“marriage solemnization; marriage contract”)
• nikah gantung (“marriage where the couple does not cohabit immediately”)
• nikah lari (“elopement”)

Descendants

• > Indonesian: nikah (inherited)

Further reading

• "nikah" in Pusat Rujukan Persuratan Melayu (PRPM) [Malay Literary Reference Centre (PRPM)] (in Malay), Kuala Lumpur: Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka, 2017
  (also see "nikah" at PRPM first version)