Learn ArabicB1 › عَناء

عَناء

hardship, toil, trouble /ʕaˈnaːʔ/

nounB1#2847 most common

Also: exertion, suffering, weariness

Example sentences

هذا العمل فيه عَناء كبير.
This work involves a lot of hardship.
تحمّلتُ عَناء السفر الطويل.
I bore the hardship of the long journey.
بذلت أمي عَناءً كبيرًا في تربيتنا.
My mother put in great toil raising us.
لم يوفّر عليه أحد عَناء البحث عن الحقيقة.
No one spared him the trouble of searching for the truth.
رغم عَناء السنين، ظلّ مصمّمًا على تحقيق حلمه.
Despite the toil of the years, he stayed determined to fulfill his dream.
انطوت رحلته عبر الجبال الوعرة على عَناء لا يُوصف.
His journey through the rugged mountains involved indescribable hardship.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeعَناءٌعَناءاتٌ
Genitiveعَناءٍعَناءاتٍ
Accusativeعَناءًعَناءاتٍ
Vocativeيا عَناءُيا عَناءاتُ

Word family

عانى (يُعاني)to suffer, to endure
معاناةsuffering, ordeal
عِنايةcare, attention
عانٍsuffering, toiling
يَعْنِيit means, that is to say

Etymology

عَناء comes from the Semitic root ع-ن-ي, which carries the sense of exertion, concern, and being burdened. In this pattern the final weak radical ي surfaces as a hamza, giving the noun shape فَعَال seen in words like عطاء and بناء. The same root produced عانى, the common verb for enduring suffering, and عناية, the word for care and attention. The root shows related senses across Semitic languages, generally clustering around affliction and being weighed down.

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