Arabic word sheet
صَبَرَ
To be patient, to endure
- Type
- verb
- Root
- ص ب ر
Meaning and usage
To be patient, to endure
To bear pain, a wait or a difficulty without complaining or losing one's temper. Said of someone who keeps calm under trial.
صَبَرَ الْمَرِيضُ عَلَى الْأَلَمِ طَوِيلًا.
The patient bore the pain for a long time.
To do without
To bear being deprived of something one loves or wants. Said of someone who holds firm without giving in to the wish.
صَبَرَ الطِّفْلُ عَنِ الْحَلْوَى أُسْبُوعًا.
The child went without sweets for a week.
To hold back, to confine (classical use)
To keep someone or something from leaving, to hold them under constraint. This is the verb's first meaning, rare today.
Word family
What the root means ص ب ر
The root carries the idea of holding back, of keeping from moving. To be patient is to hold oneself back in the face of what weighs on one. From it come patience, the patient person, forcing oneself to be patient, and a very bitter plant sap.
patience
صَبْرٌ
patient
صَابِرٌ
very patient
صَبُورٌ
to force oneself to be patient
تَصَبَّرَ
to bear up patiently
اِصْطَبَرَ
aloe, bitter sap
صَبِرٌ
Synonyms
to bear, to put up with
تَحَمَّلَ
It stresses the weight being carried, whereas the headword says above all the restraint and calm of one who does not complain.
to hold back, to lock up
حَبَسَ
It is the common verb for holding back or locking up; it matches only the classical use of the headword and never the idea of patience.
Opposites
to lose heart, to fret
جَزِعَ