Tag: AB

Ab means “father” in most Semitic languages, sometimes extended to Abba or Aba.
Ab (أَب), from a theoretical, abstract form ʼabawun (triliteral ʼ-b-w) is Arabic for “father”. The dual is ʼabawāni or ʼabāni “two fathers” or “mother and father” (ʼābāʼi-ka meaning “thy parents”).
Li-llāhi ʼabū-ka is an expression of praise, meaning “to God is attributable [the excellence of] your father”.
As a verb, ʼ-b-w means “to become [as] a father to [somebody]” (ʼabawtu) or “to adopt [him] as a father” (ta’abbā-hu or ista’bā-hu).
In the construct state, Abū (أبو) is followed by another word to form a complete name, e.g.: Abu Mazen, another name for Mahmoud Abbas.
Abu may be used as a kunya, an honorific. To refer to a man by his fatherhood (of male offspring) is polite, so that ʼabū takes the function of an honorific. Even a man that is as yet childless may still be known as abū of his father’s name, implying that he will yet have a son called after his father.
The combination is extended beyond…