Arabic word sheet
ظَنٌّ
Supposition, conjecture
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ظ ن ن
Meaning and usage
Supposition, conjecture
An idea one holds to be likely without having proof of it, while admitting that the contrary may be true.
كَانَ ظَنُّ الْمُعَلِّمِ صَحِيحًا.
The teacher's guess was right.
Doubt, uncertainty
The state of one who is not sure and wavers between two possibilities; the opposite of certainty.
لَيْلَى بَيْنَ الظَّنِّ وَالْيَقِينِ فِي هَذَا الْخَبَرِ.
Layla wavers between doubt and certainty about this news.
Suspicion
A bad opinion formed of someone without proof.
وَقَعَ ظَنُّ الشُّرْطِيِّ عَلَى الْجَارِ.
The policeman's suspicion fell on the neighbour.
Conviction (classical use)
More rarely, in the classical language, knowledge held as sure that is reached by reflection and not by what one sees.
Plural
ظُنُونٌ
Word family
What the root means ظ ن ن
The basic verb means to think or suppose something without being sure of it, in a state of mind between doubt and certainty. From it come the supposition itself, suspicion, the suspected person and the place where one expects to find a thing.
to think, to suppose
suspicion, accusation
ظِنَّةٌ
suspected, a suspect
ظَنِينٌ
distrustful; unreliable
ظَنُونٌ
place where a thing is expected to be
مَظِنَّةٌ
Synonyms
doubt
Matches the sense 'doubt': in it the two possibilities weigh the same, whereas the headword leans to one side.
guess, estimate
تَخْمِينٌ
A rough estimate, above all of a quantity or a fact, without the shade of doubt or suspicion.
Opposites
certainty
يَقِينٌ