Arabic word sheet
سَبِيلٌ
Way, road
- Type
- noun
- Root
- س ب ل
Meaning and usage
Way, road
A track along which one goes from one place to another, especially its open, clearly visible part. The word is more literary than the everyday term for a road.
سَأَلَ رَامِي عَنِ السَّبِيلِ إِلَى الْمَحَطَّةِ.
Rami asked the way to the station.
Means, access
Figuratively, what lets one reach a person or a thing: a means of getting there, a tie that gives access. Said of a solution, a way out or a possibility of acting.
وَجَدَتْ لَيْلَى سَبِيلًا إِلَى حَلِّ الْمُشْكِلَةِ.
Layla found a way to solve the problem.
Public drinking fountain modern usage
In later usage, a fountain where passers-by can drink for free, often set up at the side of a street.
شَرِبَ الْمُسَافِرُ مِنَ السَّبِيلِ فِي الشَّارِعِ.
The traveller drank from the public fountain in the street.
Plural
سُبُلٌ
Word family
What the root means س ب ل
The root brings together two ideas: the path one follows, and what is let hang or flow, like a garment let down to the ground or rain pouring down. From it come the path, the travellers who follow it, and letting something hang or flow.
passers-by, travellers on the road
سَابِلَةٌ
to let hang down, to let fall
أَسْبَلَ
to make freely available to all
سَبَّلَ
rain
سَبَلٌ
moustache
سَبَلَةٌ
Synonyms
road, way
طَرِيقٌ
It is the ordinary word for any road or route; the headword is more elevated and is used more readily in a figurative way.
means
وَسِيلَةٌ
Narrower: it names only the means used to reach a goal, never an actual road.