Arabic word sheet
إِنْسَانٌ
A human being, a person
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ء ن س
Meaning and usage
A human being, a person
A person, whoever it may be. The word is said of a man and of a woman alike.
سَاعَدَ سَامِي إِنْسَانًا فَقِيرًا.
Sami helped a poor person.
Man, humankind
With "the", it names humans in general, the whole kind.
دَرَسَ الطَّالِبُ جِسْمَ الْإِنْسَانِ.
The student studied the body of the human being.
Plural
نَاسٌ / أُنَاسٌ
Word family
What the root means ء ن س
According to one of the explanations the old dictionaries give, the root is about perceiving: seeing, knowing, sensing; the human being would be so named for using these faculties. From it also come humankind and what is human.
humankind
human, a human
إِنْسِيٌّ
perceiving
إِينَاسٌ
Synonyms
human beings, a human
بَشَرٌ
Tends to name humans taken together, as creatures of flesh, and is used less for one particular person.
person, individual
شَخْصٌ
Names a person as an individual one counts or points to, without the idea of humanity.