Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word رقیب. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word رقیب, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say رقیب in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word رقیب you have here. The definition of the word رقیب will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofرقیب, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.
Borrowed from Arabicرَقِيب(raqīb), from رَقَبَ(raqaba). The semantic shift is already found in medieval poetry: "guardian of the beloved " > "rival in love" > "rival, competitor ."
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 dirēğ īnčunīn zāyi' či mēsāzī nigāh-i xwēš rā
Every moment, you cast looks at rivals : such a pity, alas! Why do you waste your glances in such a way?
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 (in Latin), volume II, Gießen: J. Ricker, page 48
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