رقیب

See also: رقيب

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic رَقَبَ (raqaba)

Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb)bor.

Persian رَقِیب

Borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba). The semantic shift is already found in medieval poetry: "guardian of the beloved [who prevents the lover from seeing her]" > "rival in love" > "rival, competitor [in general]."

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɾa.ˈqiːβ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [rä.qíːb]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [rä.qíːb]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [rä.qíːb]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [rä.qíb̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹæ.ʁíːb̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾä.qíb]

Readings
Classical reading?	raqīḇ
Dari reading?	raqīb
Iranian reading?	raġib
Tajik reading?	raqib

Noun

رقیب • (raqib) (plural رقیبان, or رقیب‌ها, or رقبا (roqabâ))

1. rival, competitor, adversary, antagonist
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 98:

     بر رقیبان افکنی هر دم نظر حیف و دریغ
     اینچنین ضایع چه میسازی نگاه خویش را

     bar raqībān afkanī har dam nazar hayf u dirēġ
     īnčunīn zāyi' či mēsāzī nigāh-i xwēš rā

     Every moment, you cast looks at [my] rivals [in love]: such a pity, alas!
     Why do you waste your glances in such a way?

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

2. (archaic, original sense) guardian, keeper

   Synonym: نگهبان (negahbân)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: rəqib
• → Georgian: რაყიფი (raq̇ipi)
• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: रक़ीब (raqīb)

  Urdu: رَقِیب (raqīb)

• → Ottoman Turkish: رقیب (rakib)
  • Turkish: rakip

Further reading

• Vullers, Johann August (1856–1864) “رقیب”, in Lexicon Persico-Latinum etymologicum cum linguis maxime cognatis Sanscrita et Zendica et Pehlevica comparatum, e lexicis persice scriptis Borhâni Qâtiu, Haft Qulzum et Bahâri agam et persico-turcico Farhangi-Shuûrî confectum, adhibitis etiam Castelli, Meninski, Richardson et aliorum operibus et auctoritate scriptorum Persicorum adauctum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume II, Gießen: J. Ricker, page 48

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic رَقَبَ (raqaba)

Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb)bor.

Classical Persian رَقِیب (raqīb)bor.

Urdu رَقِیب (raqīb)

Borrowed from Classical Persian رَقِیب (raqīb), borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi رقیب (rqyb /⁠raqīb⁠/).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾə.qiːb/
• Rhymes: -iːb
• Syllabification: رَ‧قِیب

Noun

رَقِیب • (raqīb) m (Hindi spelling रक़ीब)

1. rival; competitor (especially in love; enemy)
2. (dated) one who watches over (guardian, guard; watchman, waiter of something)

Declension

Declension of رقیب

	singular	plural
direct	رَقِیب (raqīb)	رَقِیب (raqīb)
oblique	رَقِیب (raqīb)	رَقِیبوں (raqībõ)
vocative	رَقِیب (raqīb)	رَقِیبو (raqībo)

Further reading

• “رقیب”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “رقيب”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co., page 335
• John Shakespear (1834) “رقیب”, in A dictionary, Hindustani and English: with a copious index, fitting the work to serve, also, as a dictionary of English and Hindustani, 3^rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC