‘Ma’an’: the Arabic word for together has deeper meaning

The origin of the word has a surprising link to the idea of togetherness

Ma'an translates to together, with and other words such as simultaneously and jointly

Universally, together is a word and concept that expresses unity, interconnectedness and shared experiences between people. From love to friendship, the idea of being together is profound and powerful.

In the Arabic language, the idea of togetherness also has sentimental value, perfectly illustrated in the words of Lebanese poet, philosopher and artist Khalil Gibran who said, “Love is living together and dying together.”

This week's Arabic word of the week is ma’an. While it can be translated as together in English, it encompasses a broader spectrum of meanings related to interconnectedness and unity.

Ma’an comes from the word ma’aa, which is made up of the two Arabic letters, meem and alif.

Ma’aa is a verb which means to melt or thaw out. It may seem strange that a word which means melting, in a sense something separating from itself, is the root for a word which means together. But there's more to the story.

Aside from to melt, ma'aa is also a word used as a way to combine different ideas in a sentence. Depending on the third letter added to ma’aa and the context of the sentence, the word becomes a combination of a preposition and a subordinating conjunction, which is then used to detail or explain either time or place.

This is where ma’an comes into play. By adding the Arabic letter noon to ma'aa, ma'an then means together and a number of other words.

In English, together and with are two separate words. However, due to Arabic’s unique linguistic make-up, ma’an can mean together, with and other words such as simultaneously, jointly, with each other, or with one another and more.

While in theory it's interesting that the same word can mean both melt and together, in Arabic those two concepts are not so black and white.

When something melts it comes together in a different way, a more malleable process, which is how the idea of being together in the context of relationships can be seen.

Another way to say together in Arabic is with the word saweyyan in classical Arabic or sawa in colloquial dialect.

However, saweyyan leans more towards expressing ideas of working with someone towards a goal or as a way to describe people being equal to one another.

Both words can be used interchangeably but ma’an is perhaps more thought of as a classical fous'ha word and sawa with its dialect variations is used more colloquially.