معروف

Arabic

Etymology

Root
ع ر ف (ʕ r f)
21 terms

Derived from the passive participle of عَرَفَ (ʕarafa, “know”), verb form I.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʕ.ruːf/
• Rhymes: -uːf

Adjective

مَعْرُوف • (maʕrūf) (feminine مَعْرُوفَة (maʕrūfa), masculine plural مَعْرُوفُون (maʕrūfūn))

1. known

   مُسَاعَدَة الجِيرَان فِي الأَوْقَات الصُّعْبَة هِي قِيمَة مَعْرُوفَة.

   musāʕada(t) al-jīrān fī l-ʔawqāt aṣ-ṣuʕba(t) hī qīma(t) maʕrūfa.

   Helping neighbors in difficult times is a well-known value.

2. recognized
3. conventional
4. decent
5. fair
6. adequate
7. good

   التَّسَاهُل وَالاِحْتِرَام المُتَبَادِل هُمَا عَلَامَتَان لِلسُّلُوك المَعْرُوف.

   at-tasāhul wa-l-iḥtirām al-mutabādil humā ʕalāmatān li-s-sulūk al-maʕrūf.

   Tolerance and mutual respect are two signs of good behavior.

8. pleasant

Declension

Declension of adjective مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf)

singular	masculine		feminine
	basic singular triptote		singular triptote in ـَة (-a)
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	مَعْرُوف maʕrūf	الْمَعْرُوف al-maʕrūf	مَعْرُوفَة maʕrūfa	الْمَعْرُوفَة al-maʕrūfa
nominative	مَعْرُوفٌ maʕrūfun	الْمَعْرُوفُ al-maʕrūfu	مَعْرُوفَةٌ maʕrūfatun	الْمَعْرُوفَةُ al-maʕrūfatu
accusative	مَعْرُوفًا maʕrūfan	الْمَعْرُوفَ al-maʕrūfa	مَعْرُوفَةً maʕrūfatan	الْمَعْرُوفَةَ al-maʕrūfata
genitive	مَعْرُوفٍ maʕrūfin	الْمَعْرُوفِ al-maʕrūfi	مَعْرُوفَةٍ maʕrūfatin	الْمَعْرُوفَةِ al-maʕrūfati
dual	masculine		feminine
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	مَعْرُوفَيْن maʕrūfayn	الْمَعْرُوفَيْن al-maʕrūfayn	مَعْرُوفَتَيْن maʕrūfatayn	الْمَعْرُوفَتَيْن al-maʕrūfatayn
nominative	مَعْرُوفَانِ maʕrūfāni	الْمَعْرُوفَانِ al-maʕrūfāni	مَعْرُوفَتَانِ maʕrūfatāni	الْمَعْرُوفَتَانِ al-maʕrūfatāni
accusative	مَعْرُوفَيْنِ maʕrūfayni	الْمَعْرُوفَيْنِ al-maʕrūfayni	مَعْرُوفَتَيْنِ maʕrūfatayni	الْمَعْرُوفَتَيْنِ al-maʕrūfatayni
genitive	مَعْرُوفَيْنِ maʕrūfayni	الْمَعْرُوفَيْنِ al-maʕrūfayni	مَعْرُوفَتَيْنِ maʕrūfatayni	الْمَعْرُوفَتَيْنِ al-maʕrūfatayni
plural	masculine		feminine
	sound masculine plural		sound feminine plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
informal	مَعْرُوفِين maʕrūfīn	الْمَعْرُوفِين al-maʕrūfīn	مَعْرُوفَات maʕrūfāt	الْمَعْرُوفَات al-maʕrūfāt
nominative	مَعْرُوفُونَ maʕrūfūna	الْمَعْرُوفُونَ al-maʕrūfūna	مَعْرُوفَاتٌ maʕrūfātun	الْمَعْرُوفَاتُ al-maʕrūfātu
accusative	مَعْرُوفِينَ maʕrūfīna	الْمَعْرُوفِينَ al-maʕrūfīna	مَعْرُوفَاتٍ maʕrūfātin	الْمَعْرُوفَاتِ al-maʕrūfāti
genitive	مَعْرُوفِينَ maʕrūfīna	الْمَعْرُوفِينَ al-maʕrūfīna	مَعْرُوفَاتٍ maʕrūfātin	الْمَعْرُوفَاتِ al-maʕrūfāti

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: məruf
• → Ottoman Turkish: معروف (maruf)
  • Turkish: maruf
• → Persian: معروف (ma'ruf)
  • → Urdu: مَعرُوف (ma'rūf)
• → Swahili: maarufu
• → Urdu: مَعْرُوف (ma'rūf)
• → Uzbek: maʼruf

Noun

مَعْرُوف • (maʕrūf) m

1. beneficence
2. benefice
3. decency
4. favor

Declension

Declension of noun مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	مَعْرُوف maʕrūf	الْمَعْرُوف al-maʕrūf	مَعْرُوف maʕrūf
nominative	مَعْرُوفٌ maʕrūfun	الْمَعْرُوفُ al-maʕrūfu	مَعْرُوفُ maʕrūfu
accusative	مَعْرُوفًا maʕrūfan	الْمَعْرُوفَ al-maʕrūfa	مَعْرُوفَ maʕrūfa
genitive	مَعْرُوفٍ maʕrūfin	الْمَعْرُوفِ al-maʕrūfi	مَعْرُوفِ maʕrūfi

Synonyms

• جَمِيل (jamīl)

Antonyms

• مُنْكَر (munkar)

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَرَفَ (ʕarafa)

Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf)bor.

Persian معروف

Borrowed from Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /maʔ.ˈruːf/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúːf]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúːf]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [mɑː.ɾúːf]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [mɔː.ɾúf]

 

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæʔ.ɹúːf]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [mæʔ.ɹúːf]
  • (Tehrani) IPA^(key): [mæː.ɹúːf]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [mäʔ.ɾúf]

• Rhymes: -uːf

Readings
Classical reading?	ma'rūf
Dari reading?	ma'rūf
Iranian reading?	ma'ruf
Tajik reading?	ma'ruf

Adjective

معروف • (ma'rūf / ma'ruf) (comparative معروف‌تَر, superlative معروف‌تَرین, Tajik spelling маъруф)

1. famous, renowned

   Synonym: مشهور (mašhur)

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume I, verse 2829:

     هر هنر که استا بدان معروف شد / جان شاگردان بدان موصوف شد

     har honar ke ostâ bedân ma'ruf šod, jân-e šâgerdân bedân mowsuf šod

     For whatever science the master is renowned, the souls of his pupils become endued with the same.

2. (Classical Persian, Dari) ma'ruf (vowel); see مَعْرُوف و مَجْهُول (ma'rūf u majhūl).

   Antonym: مجهول (majhul)

Noun

معروف • (ma'rūf / ma'ruf) (Tajik spelling маъруф)

1. (Classical Persian, Dari) ma'ruf (vowel); see مَعْرُوف و مَجْهُول (ma'rūf u majhūl).

   Antonym: مجهول (majhul)

Inflection

Basic forms of معروف

bare	معروف (ma'ruf)
ezâfe	معروف (ma'ruf-e)
marked indefinite or relative definite	معروفی (ma'ruf-i)

Predicative forms of معروف (ma'ruf)

	singular	plural
1st person (“I am, we are”)	معروفم (ma'rufam)	معروفیم (ma'rufim)
2nd person (“you are”)	معروفی (ma'rufi)	معروفید، معروفین△ (ma'rufid, ma'rufin△)
3rd person (“he/she/it is, they are”)	معروف است، معروفه△ (ma'ruf ast, ma'rufe△)	معروفند، معروفن△ (ma'rufand, ma'rufan△)

^△ Colloquial.

South Levantine Arabic

Root
ع ر ف
6 terms

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَرَفَ (ʕarafa)

Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf)

South Levantine Arabic معروف

Inherited from Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /maʕ.ruːf/, [maʕˈruːf]

• Audio (Ramallah):

  (file)

Adjective

معروف • (maʕrūf) (feminine معروفة (maʕrūfe), common plural معروفين (maʕrūfīn))

1. known, well-known, familiar

See also

• معلوم (maʕlūm, “known, obvious”)

Urdu

Etymology

Etymology tree

Arabic عَرَفَ (ʕarafa)

Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf)bor.

Classical Persian مَعْرُوف (ma'rūf)bor.

Urdu مَعْرُوف

Borrowed from Classical Persian مَعْرُوف (ma'rūf), borrowed from Arabic مَعْرُوف (maʕrūf), from عَرَفَ (ʕarafa).

Pronunciation

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /məʕ.ɾuːf/, [mɑː.ɾuːf]
• Rhymes: -uːf
• Hyphenation: مَعْ‧رُوف

Adjective

مَعْرُوف • (ma'rūf) (indeclinable, Hindi spelling मारूफ़)

1. famous, renowned

   Synonyms: نامِی (nāmī), پْرَکھْیات (prakhyāt), وِکھْیات (vikhyāt), مَشْہُور (maśhūr), مَقْبُول (maqbūl)

2. evident; known

   Synonym: مَعْلُوم (ma'lūm)

3. (grammar) active voice
4. (phonology) a stretched or close vowel; an epithet for the و (vao) and ی (ye) letters

   Antonym: مَجْہُول (majhūl)

5. (formal) correct; lawful

   Antonym: مُنْکَر (munkar)

Antonyms

• مَجْہُول (majhūl)

Further reading

• “معروف”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “معروف”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2026.
• Fallon, Platts, Qureshi, Shakespear (2024), “معروف”, in Digital Dictionaries of South Asia [Combined Urdu Dictionaries]