Learn Arabic › A1 › وُسْع
وُسْع
capacity (the extent of one's ability or power to act) /ˈwusʕ/
nounA1#595 most common
Also: ability, scope, power to act
Example sentences
هٰذا في وُسْعي.
This is within my ability.
في وُسْعِكَ أن تساعدني.
You are able to help me.
سأبذل كلَّ ما في وُسْعي.
I will do everything in my power.
ليس في وُسْعِنا أن نغيّر الماضي.
It is not within our power to change the past.
بذل الطبيبُ كلَّ ما في وُسْعِه لإنقاذ المريض.
The doctor did everything in his power to save the patient.
لا يُكلِّفُ اللهُ نفسًا إلّا وُسْعَها.
God does not burden a soul beyond its capacity.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | وُسْعٌ | None |
| Genitive | وُسْعٍ | None |
| Accusative | وُسْعًا | None |
| Vocative | يا وُسْعُ | None |
Word family
واسِعwide, vast, spacious
وَسَّعَto widen, to expand
سَعةcapacity, breadth, affluence
اِتَّسَعَto expand, to grow wide
مُتَّسَعroom, space, scope
Etymology
وُسْع comes from the Semitic root w-s-ʿ, which carries the idea of being wide or roomy. The same root gives واسِع (wide) and سَعة (breadth). From physical width the sense extended to a person's scope of capacity: how much one can hold or do. The word is now fixed in the phrase في وُسْعه, meaning within his power.
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