معاش

Arabic

Noun

مَعَاش • (maʕāš) m

1. verbal noun of عَاشَ (ʕāša) (form I)
2. livelihood, subsistence
   • 1377, Ibn Khaldun, edited by Khalīl Shaḥādah, تاريخ ابن خلدون, 1st edition, volume 1, Beirut, Lebanon: Dār al-Fikr, published 1981, page 727:

     وَأَكْثَرُ مَا يَحْمِلُ عَلَى ٱلْتِمَاسِ هٰذِهِ الصِّنَاعَةِ وَٱنْتِحَالِهَا هُوَ كَمَا قُلْنَاهُ الْعَجْزُ عَنِ الطُّرُقِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةِ لِلْمَعَاشِ وَٱبْتِغَاؤُهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ وُجُوهِهِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةِ كَٱلْفِلَاحَةِ وَٱلتِّجَارَةِ وَٱلصِّنَاعَةِ فَيَسْتَصْعِبُ الْعَاجِزُ ٱبْتِغَاءَهُ مِنْ هٰذِهِ وَيَرُومُ الْحُصُولَ عَلَى الْكَثِيرِ مِنَ الْمَالِ دُفْعَةً بِوُجُوهٍ غَيْرِ طَبِيعِيَّةٍ مِنَ الْكِيمِيَاءِ وَغَيْرِهَا.

     waʔakṯaru mā yaḥmilu ʕalā ltimāsi hāḏihi ṣ-ṣināʕati wantiḥālihā huwa kamā qulnāhu l-ʕajzu ʕani ṭ-ṭuruqi ṭ-ṭabīʕiyyati lilmaʕāši wabtiḡāʔuhu min ḡayri wujūhihi ṭ-ṭabīʕiyyati kal-filāḥati wat-tijārati waṣ-ṣināʕati fayastaṣʕibu l-ʕājizu btiḡāʔahu min hāḏihi wayarūmu l-ḥuṣūla ʕalā l-kaṯīri mina l-māli dufʕatan biwujūhin ḡayri ṭabīʕiyyatin mina l-kīmiyāʔi waḡayrihā.

     The most common cause of the desire to practice alchemy is, as we have stated; a person’s inability to make his living in a natural way and the wish to make a living in some way that, unlike agriculture, commerce, and (handi)craft, is not natural. A person without ability finds it difficult to make his living in such (legitimate occupations). He wants to get rich all at once through some (occupation) that is not natural, such as alchemy and other things.

     Translated by Franz Rosenthal

3. (post-Classical) salary

   Synonym: رَاتِب (rātib)

Declension

Declension of noun مَعَاش (maʕāš)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	مَعَاش maʕāš	الْمَعَاش al-maʕāš	مَعَاش maʕāš
Nominative	مَعَاشٌ maʕāšun	الْمَعَاشُ al-maʕāšu	مَعَاشُ maʕāšu
Accusative	مَعَاشًا maʕāšan	الْمَعَاشَ al-maʕāša	مَعَاشَ maʕāša
Genitive	مَعَاشٍ maʕāšin	الْمَعَاشِ al-maʕāši	مَعَاشِ maʕāši

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: معاش (maʕāš)
• → Azerbaijani: maaş
• → Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: مەعاش (me'aş)

  Northern Kurdish: meaş

• → Ottoman Turkish: معاش (maʿaş)

  > Turkish: maaş (inherited)

• → Persian: مَعاش (ma'âš)
  • Tajik: маош (maoš)
  • → Pashto: معاش (ma'āš)
• → Turkmen: مۇئاش
• → Uyghur: مائاش (ma'ash), مۇئاش (mu'ash)
• → Uzbek: maosh

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَاش (maʕāš, “living”), from عَاشَ (ʕāša, “to live”).

Noun

معاش • (maaş) (definite accusative معاشی (maaşı), plural معاشات (maaşat) or معائش (maaiş))

1. salary, pension, or other source of income; living

Descendants

• Turkish: maaş

References

• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “معاش”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[1], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1896

Urdu

Etymology

From Arabic مَعَاش (maʕāš).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mə.(ʔ)ɑːʃ/

Noun

مَعاش • (ma'āš) f (Hindi spelling मआश)

1. economy
2. livelihood, subsistence, living

References

• “معاش”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “معاش”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.