LessonsSimple and Compound Expressions: Terms and Their Semantic DivisionsQuiz

أن اللفظ الذي كثر معناه إن وضع ذلك اللفظ لكل معنى ابتداء بأوضاع متعددة على حدة، يسمى مشتركا
If a term has several meanings and was independently assigned to each from the outset, it is termed mushtarak (homonymous).

For “ʿayn,” the original text gives gold, the eye and the knee as separate senses. A spring is another established Arabic sense of the same word. This does not mean every use intends all the meanings at once: context selects the intended sense.

Contrast it with mutawāṭiʾ: there one universal meaning applies to many instances. In mushtarak the same word-form carries several distinct lexical meanings.

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Mushtarak: one word, several primary senses

Simple and Compound Expressions: Terms and Their Semantic Divisions

أن اللفظ الذي كثر معناه إن وضع ذلك اللفظ لكل معنى ابتداء بأوضاع متعددة على حدة، يسمى مشتركا
If a term has several meanings and was independently assigned to each from the outset, it is termed mushtarak (homonymous).

For “ʿayn,” the original text gives gold, the eye and the knee as separate senses. A spring is another established Arabic sense of the same word. This does not mean every use intends all the meanings at once: context selects the intended sense.

Contrast it with mutawāṭiʾ: there one universal meaning applies to many instances. In mushtarak the same word-form carries several distinct lexical meanings.