Arabic word sheet
أَمْرٌ
Matter, affair
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ء م ر
Meaning and usage
Matter, affair
What is at issue or what one is dealing with: a subject, a fact, an event. A very general word, said of anything that happens or has to be dealt with.
تَحَدَّثَ الْمُدِيرُ عَنْ أَمْرٍ مُهِمٍّ.
The manager spoke about an important matter.
Order, command
Words by which someone with authority tells another to do something. Said of a chief, a parent, a superior.
نَفَّذَ الْمُوَظَّفُ أَمْرَ الْمُدِيرِ.
The employee carried out the manager's order.
State, situation
The way a person or a thing stands at a given moment; their condition, their case. Said when asking after someone or judging how things stand with them.
سَأَلَ الطَّبِيبُ عَنْ أَمْرِ الْمَرِيضِ.
The doctor asked about the patient's condition.
Plural
أُمُورٌ / أَوَامِرُ
Word family
What the root means ء م ر
The root carries the idea of commanding, of telling someone what to do, and that of an affair, a thing one is busy with. From it come ordering, the one who commands, the one who receives the order and the leader.
one who has been given an order
مَأْمُورٌ
one who gives orders
آمِرٌ
to order
أَمَرَ
commander, prince
أَمِيرٌ
command, principality
إِمَارَةٌ
Synonyms
affair, concern
شَأْنٌ
It names what concerns someone in particular and often adds a note of importance or standing; the headword is more neutral and more general.
state, condition
حَالٌ
Narrower: it only says the state one is in at a given moment, without the senses of affair or order.
Opposites
prohibition
نَهْيٌ