رقیب

See also: رقيب

Persian

Etymology

  • 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

     

    Readings
    Classical reading? raqīb
    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)

    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

  • Borrowed from Classical Persian رَقِیب (raqīb), borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba).[1][2] First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi رقیب (rqyb /⁠raqīb⁠/).[3]

    Pronunciation

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

    Noun

    رَقِیب • (raqībm (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)

    References

    1. ^ Platts, John T. (1884), “رقيب”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 596
    2. ^ Fallon, S. W. (1879), “رقیب”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
    3. ^ رقیب”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

    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, 3rd edition, London: J.L. Cox and Son, →OCLC