Arabic word sheet
أُمَّةٌ
a community, a nation
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ء م م
Meaning and usage
Nation, people, community
A large body of people joined by the same origin, the same language or the same way of life. Also said of the group a person belongs to.
تَتَكَلَّمُ هَذِهِ الْأُمَّةُ لُغَةً وَاحِدَةً.
This nation speaks one language.
A kind of living beings
Any set of living beings of the same sort, taken apart from the others: dogs, birds, ants.
النَّمْلُ أُمَّةٌ تَعْمَلُ بِنِظَامٍ.
Ants are a kind that works in an orderly way.
A while, a period of time
In older and literary usage: a certain time, a stretch of time that goes by.
مَكَثَ التَّاجِرُ فِي الْمَدِينَةِ أُمَّةً.
The merchant stayed in the city for a while.
Plural
أُمَمٌ
Word family
What the root means ء م م
The root is about heading for a goal and following one way. A people is a group that follows the same way; from it too come the guide one follows, the source one comes from, and a way of living.
guide, leader who is followed
إِمَامٌ
mother; source
أُمٌّ
way of life, course followed
إِمَّةٌ
Synonyms
people
شَعْبٌ
Names a people by its land and origin; the headword can join several peoples under one way of life.
folk, one's own people
Narrower: the close group one belongs to, one's tribe or fellow countrymen.