Arabic word sheet
ظَنَّ
To think, to suppose
- Type
- verb
- Root
- ظ ن ن
Meaning and usage
To think, to suppose
To hold a thing to be likely without being sure of it: the mind leans one way, between doubt and certainty.
ظَنَّ سَامِي أَنَّ الْمَحَلَّ مَفْتُوحٌ.
Sami thought the shop was open.
To be convinced, to know by reflection
Also said of one who is convinced of a thing because he has understood or inferred it, not because he has seen it with his own eyes.
رَأَى الْمُسَافِرُ الْغُيُومَ فَظَنَّ أَنَّ الْمَطَرَ قَادِمٌ.
The traveller saw the clouds and knew that rain was coming.
To suspect
With a person as its object: to suspect him, to think ill of him.
ظَنَّ الْحَارِسُ الزَّائِرَ بَعْدَ السَّرِقَةِ.
The guard suspected the visitor after the theft.
Word family
What the root means ظ ن ن
The root covers what the mind holds to be true without having seen it: an opinion that may be no more than a doubt or may be a conviction reached by reflection. From it come “opinion”, “suspicion”, “the suspect”, “one who cannot be relied on” and “the place where one expects to find a thing”.
opinion, supposition
suspicion, accusation
ظِنَّةٌ
suspected, suspect
ظَنِينٌ
distrustful; not to be relied on
ظَنُونٌ
place where a thing is expected to be
مَظِنَّةٌ
Synonyms
to reckon, to suppose
حَسِبَ
It says that one judges a thing to be so from appearances, often wrongly, and is never used for a conviction.
to accuse, to suspect
اِتَّهَمَ
It matches only the sense of suspecting, and goes further: it openly lays the offence at someone’s door.