روح

See also: روج, روچ, and زوج

Arabic

Root
ر و ح (r w ḥ)
25 terms

Etymology 1

Etymologically related to Arabic: ريح (rīḥ, “wind”). From Proto-West Semitic *rūḥ-. Cognate with Hebrew רוּחַ (rúakh).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ruːħ/
• Rhymes: -uːħ

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) m or f (plural أَرْوَاح (ʔarwāḥ))

1. spirit (all senses), ghost
2. soul, essence, core or essential aspect required for being
3. life; spark of life, breath of life
4. breath, movement of air
5. motivation, energy, inspiration; the means to be animate or living
6. gun barrel

Declension

Declension of noun رُوح (rūḥ)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رُوح rūḥ	الرُّوح ar-rūḥ	رُوح rūḥ
nominative	رُوحٌ rūḥun	الرُّوحُ ar-rūḥu	رُوحُ rūḥu
accusative	رُوحًا rūḥan	الرُّوحَ ar-rūḥa	رُوحَ rūḥa
genitive	رُوحٍ rūḥin	الرُّوحِ ar-rūḥi	رُوحِ rūḥi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رُوحَيْن rūḥayn	الرُّوحَيْن ar-rūḥayn	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
nominative	رُوحَانِ rūḥāni	الرُّوحَانِ ar-rūḥāni	رُوحَا rūḥā
accusative	رُوحَيْنِ rūḥayni	الرُّوحَيْنِ ar-rūḥayni	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
genitive	رُوحَيْنِ rūḥayni	الرُّوحَيْنِ ar-rūḥayni	رُوحَيْ rūḥay
plural	basic broken plural triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	أَرْوَاح ʔarwāḥ	الْأَرْوَاح al-ʔarwāḥ	أَرْوَاح ʔarwāḥ
nominative	أَرْوَاحٌ ʔarwāḥun	الْأَرْوَاحُ al-ʔarwāḥu	أَرْوَاحُ ʔarwāḥu
accusative	أَرْوَاحًا ʔarwāḥan	الْأَرْوَاحَ al-ʔarwāḥa	أَرْوَاحَ ʔarwāḥa
genitive	أَرْوَاحٍ ʔarwāḥin	الْأَرْوَاحِ al-ʔarwāḥi	أَرْوَاحِ ʔarwāḥi

Derived terms

• رَاحَة الْأَرْوَاح (rāḥat al-ʔarwāḥ)

Descendants

• → Malay: roh
  • Indonesian: roh
• Maltese: ruħ
• → Old Anatolian Turkish: رُوحْ (rūh)
  • Azerbaijani: ruh
  • Gagauz: ruh
  • Ottoman Turkish: روح (ruh)

    > Turkish: ruh (inherited)

• → Persian: روح
  • → Bengali: রূহ (ruho)
  • → Hindi: रूह (rūh)
  • → Urdu: رُوح (rūh)
• → Swahili: roho
• → Tabasaran: рюгь (rjuh)
• → Uyghur: روھ (roh)
• → Uzbek: ruh
• → Kazakh: рух (rux)
• → Zazaki: ruh, roh

(via plural form أَرْوَاح (ʔarwāḥ))

• → Kazakh: аруақ (aruaq)
• → Azerbaijani: ərvah
• → Persian: ارواح (arvâh)
  • → Urdu: ارواح (arvāh)
    • → Ushojo: ارواح (arvāh)
• → Classical Malay: ارواح
  • → Malay: arwah
    • → Indonesian: arwah
• → Ottoman Turkish: ارواح (ervâh)
  • → Turkish: ervah
• → Javanese: ꦫꦸꦮꦃ (Ruwah)
  • → Sundanese: Rewah
• → Uyghur: ئەرۋاھ (erwah)
• → Uzbek: arvoh

Etymology 2

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /rawħ/

Noun

رَوْح • (rawḥ) m

1. refreshment

Declension

Declension of noun رَوْح (rawḥ)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	رَوْح rawḥ	الرَّوْح ar-rawḥ	رَوْح rawḥ
nominative	رَوْحٌ rawḥun	الرَّوْحُ ar-rawḥu	رَوْحُ rawḥu
accusative	رَوْحًا rawḥan	الرَّوْحَ ar-rawḥa	رَوْحَ rawḥa
genitive	رَوْحٍ rawḥin	الرَّوْحِ ar-rawḥi	رَوْحِ rawḥi

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “روح”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Egyptian Arabic

Root
ر و ح
2 terms

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /rawwaħ/

Verb

روّح • (rawwaḥ) II (verbal noun مرواح (mirwāḥ), active participle مروّح (mirawwaḥ), passive participle متروّح (mitrawwaḥ))

1. (intransitive) to (literally) go home, to return home
2. (transitive) to bring home, to get home (verbal noun ترويح (tarwīḥ))

Conjugation

Conjugation of روح

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّح (rawwaḥ)		روّحنا (rawwaḥna)	روّحتوا (rawwaḥtu)	روّحوا (rawwaḥu)
	f		روّحتي (rawwaḥti)	روّحت (rawwaḥit)
present subjunctive	m	اروّح (arawwaḥ)	تروّح (tirawwaḥ)	يروّح (yirawwaḥ)		نروّح (nirawwaḥ)	تروّحوا (tirawwaḥu)	يروّحوا (yirawwaḥu)
	f		تروّحي (tirawwaḥi)	تروّح (tirawwaḥ)
present indicative	m	بروّح (barawwaḥ)	بتروّح (bitrawwaḥ)	بيروّح (biyrawwaḥ)		بنروّح (binrawwaḥ)	بتروّحوا (bitrawwaḥu)	بيروّحوا (biyrawwaḥu)
	f		بتروّحي (bitrawwaḥi)	بتروّح (bitrawwaḥ)
future1	m	هروّح (harawwaḥ)	هتروّح (hatrawwaḥ)	هيروّح (hayrawwaḥ)		هنروّح (hanrawwaḥ)	هتروّحوا (hatrawwaḥu)	هيروّحوا (hayrawwaḥu)
	f		هتروّحي (hatrawwaḥi)	هتروّح (hatrawwaḥ)
imperative	m		روّح (rawwaḥ)				روّحوا (rawwaḥu)
	f		روّحي (rawwaḥi)

¹ The future tense can be prefixed with either هـ (ha-) or حـ (ḥa-) depending on the speaker.

Etymology 2

From Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /roːħ/

Noun

روح • (rōḥ) f (plural أرواح (arwāḥ))

1. spirit
   1. soul
   2. ghost
2. life

   ردّ فيه الروح ― radd fī ir-rōḥ ― it made him lively again

   Synonyms: حياة (ḥayā), عيشة (ʕīša)

Etymology 3

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ruːħ/

Verb

روح • (rūḥ)

1. singular masculine imperative of راح (rāḥ, “to go”)

Old Anatolian Turkish

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Noun

رُوحْ • (rūh)

1. spirit, spiritual material
2. spirit, geist, ghost, the spiritual source
3. soul, ghost, a disembodied individual spirit
4. ghost

Descendants

• Azerbaijani: ruh
• Gagauz: ruh
• Ottoman Turkish: روح (ruh)
  • Turkish: ruh

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

Inherited from Old Anatolian Turkish رُوحْ (rūh), Arabic رُوح (rūḥ, “soul, spirit”).

Noun

روح • (ruh) (plural ارواح)

1. soul, the spirit of a person that lives on after one's death

   Synonyms: اوز (öz), تن (tin), جان (can), زات (zat), نفس (nefes)

2. soul, core, pith, kernel, marrow, essence of a thing

   Synonyms: اوز (öz), لب (lubb), مغز (mağz)

3. vitality, vivacity, liveliness, animation, energy
4. name of a certain angel or class of angels

Derived terms

• روحانی (ruhani, “spiritual; holy”)
• روحسز (ruhsuz, “lifeless, inanimate”)
• روحلانمق (ruhlanmak, “to become animated”)
• روحلو (ruhlu, “having a soul”)

Descendants

• Turkish: ruh

Further reading

• Çağbayır, Yaşar (2007) “ruh”, in Ötüken Türkçe Sözlük (in Turkish), volume 1, Istanbul: Ötüken Neşriyat, page 3979
• Kélékian, Diran (1911) “روح”, in Dictionnaire turc-français‎^[1] (in French), Constantinople: Mihran, page 630
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687) “Anima”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum‎^[2], Vienna, column 62
• Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1680) “روح”, in Thesaurus linguarum orientalium, Turcicae, Arabicae, Persicae, praecipuas earum opes à Turcis peculiariter usurpatas continens, nimirum Lexicon Turkico-Arabico-Persicum‎^[3], Vienna, column 2377
• Nişanyan, Sevan (2002–) “ruh”, in Nişanyan Sözlük
• Redhouse, James W. (1890) “روح”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon‎^[4], Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 992

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɾuːh]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ruːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ruːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ruː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ru]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɹuːʱ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɾɵʰ]

Readings
Classical reading?	rūh
Dari reading?	rūh
Iranian reading?	ruh
Tajik reading?	rüh

Noun

Dari	روح
Iranian Persian
Tajik	рӯҳ

روح • (ruh) (plural ارواح (arvâh), or روح‌ها)

1. spirit
   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 56:

     روح با علم است و با عقل است یار
     روح را با تازی و ترکی چه کار

     rūh bā 'ilm u bā 'aql ast yār
     rūh rā bā tāzī u turkī či kār

     The Spirit is associated (endued) with knowledge and reason:
     what has the Spirit to do with Arabic and Turkish?

2. soul
3. essence
4. ghost

Synonyms

• روان (ravân)

Derived terms

• روحی (ruhi)
• روحانی (ruhâni)
• روحیه (ruhiye)
• بی‌روح (bêruh)

Descendants

• → Gujarati: રૂહ (rūh)

Punjabi

Pronunciation

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /ɾuːɦᵊ/, [ɾuː˦]
• Rhymes: -uː˦

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Classical Persian رُوح (rūh), from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) f (Gurmukhi spelling ਰੂਹ)

1. soul; spirit
2. mind (ie. heart)
3. (figuratively) intention
4. (poetic) lover; beloved

Declension

Declension of روح

	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
vocative	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحو (rūḥo)
ablative	رُوحوں (rūḥoṉ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
locative	رُوحی (rūḥī)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)
instrumental	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)	رُوحے (rūḥe)

Etymology 2

Borrowed from Urdu رَوح (rauh), from Classical Persian رَوح (rawh), ultimately from Arabic رَوْح (rawḥ).

Noun

رُوح • (rūḥ) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਰੂਹ)

1. essence; extract

Declension

Declension of روح

	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوح (rūḥ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
vocative	رُوحا (rūḥā)	رُوحو (rūḥo)
ablative	رُوحوں (rūḥoṉ)	رُوحاں (rūḥāṉ)
locative	رُوحے (rūḥe)	رُوحِیں (rūḥīṉ)
instrumental	رُوحوں (rūḥoṉ)	–

Further reading

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “رُوح”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “ਰੂਹ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ر و ح
16 terms

Etymology 1

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /raw.waħ/, [ˈraw.wɑħ]

• Audio (al-Lidd):

  (file)

Verb

روّح • (rawwaḥ) II (present بروّح (birawweḥ), active participle مروّح (mrawweḥ))

1. to return, to go home

   شو رايك السبت تروّح معنا ع حيفا وتضلّك أسبوع؟

   šū rāyak is-sabt trawweḥ maʕna ʕa ḥēfa w-tḍallak ʔusbūʕ

   What do you say on Saturday you come back with us to Haifa and stay for a week?

Conjugation

Conjugation of روح

		singular				plural
		1st person	2nd person	3rd person		1st person	2nd person	3rd person
past	m	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّحت (rawwaḥt)	روّح (rawwaḥ)		روّحنا (rawwaḥna)	روّحتو (rawwaḥtu)	روّحو (rawwaḥu)
	f		روّحتي (rawwaḥti)	روّحت (rawwaḥat)
present	m	بروّح (barawwiḥ)	بتروّح (bitrawwiḥ)	بروّح (birawwiḥ)		منروّح (minrawwiḥ)	بتروّحو (bitrawwḥu)	بروّحو (birawwḥu)
	f		بتروّحي (bitrawwḥi)	بتروّح (bitrawwiḥ)
subjunctive	m	اروّح (arawwiḥ)	تروّح (trawwiḥ)	يروّح (yrawwiḥ)		نروّح (nrawwiḥ)	تروّحو (trawwḥu)	يروّحو (yrawwḥu)
	f		تروّحي (trawwḥi)	تروّح (trawwiḥ)
imperative	m		روّح (rawwiḥ)				روّحو (rawwḥu)
	f		روّحي (rawwḥi)

See also

• رجع (rijiʕ, “to return”), عاد (ʕād, “to return”)

Etymology 2

From Arabic رُوح (rūḥ).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /roːħ/, [roːħ]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Noun

روح • (rōḥ) f (plural أرواح (ʔarwāḥ))

1. spirit, soul

Derived terms

• طويل الروح (ṭawīl ir-rūḥ, “patient”, adj.)

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian روح (rūḥ), from Arabic رُوح (rūḥ, “spirit”).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾuːɦ/
• Rhymes: -uːɦ

Noun

رُوح • (rūh) f (formal plural اَرْوَاح (arvāh), Hindi spelling रूह)

1. soul, spirit

   Synonym: آتما (ātma)

2. essence, quintessence

Declension

Declension of روح

	singular	plural
direct	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحیں (rūḥẽ)
oblique	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحوں (rūḥõ)
vocative	رُوح (rūḥ)	رُوحو (rūḥo)

Further reading

• “روح”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “روح”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “روح”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.
• Platts, John T. (1884) “روح”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co.
• S. W. Fallon (1879) “روح”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
• John Shakespear (1834) “روح”, 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