Arabic word sheet
قَلْبٌ
The heart
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ق ل ب
Meaning and usage
The heart
The organ that beats in the chest, in people and in animals.
فَحَصَ الطَّبِيبُ قَلْبَ الْمَرِيضِ.
The doctor examined the patient's heart.
The inner self, the mind
The seat of a person's secret thoughts, feelings and understanding. Said of what someone feels or grasps deep inside.
فَرِحَ قَلْبُ الْأُمِّ بِعَوْدَةِ ابْنِهَا.
The mother's heart was glad at her son's return.
The core, the best part
The purest, most tender or best part of a thing, the part found in its middle.
أَكَلَ سَامِي قَلْبَ الْخَسِّ.
Sami ate the heart of the lettuce.
Plural
قُلُوبٌ
Word family
What the root means ق ل ب
The root is about turning a thing over, moving it from one side to the other. The heart is said to take its name from this because it keeps changing; from the same idea come to turn over, to be overturned, what is upside down, and changeableness.
to turn over
قَلَبَ
to be overturned, to turn round
اِنْقَلَبَ
to turn over and over
قَلَّبَ
to toss about, to keep changing
تَقَلَّبَ
turned over, upside down
مَقْلُوبٌ
change, changeableness
تَقَلُّبٌ
Synonyms
heart
فُؤَادٌ
More literary; it is said mostly of the heart that feels, and some give it a wider sense than the organ alone.
reason, intellect
عَقْلٌ
Narrower: it names only the power to reason, neither the organ nor the feelings.