معاش

مَعَاش • (maʕāš) m

1. verbal noun of عَاشَ‎ (ʕāša) (form I)
2. livelihood, subsistence
   • 1377, Ibn Khaldun, Al-Muqaddimah:

     ‏وَأَكْثَرُ مَا يَحْمِلُ عَلَى ٱلْتِمَاسِ هٰذِهِ الصِّنَاعَةِ وَٱنْتِحَالِهَا هُوَ كَمَا قُلْنَاهُ الْعَجْزُ عَنِ الطُّرُقِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةِ لِلْمَعَاشِ وَٱبْتِغَاؤُهُ مِنْ غَيْرِ وُجُوهِهِ الطَّبِيعِيَّةِ كَٱلْفِلَاحَةِ وَٱلتِّجَارَةِ وَٱلصِّنَاعَةِ فَيَسْتَصْعِبُ الْعَاجِزُ ٱبْتِغَاءَهُ مِنْ هٰذِهِ وَيَرُومُ الْحُصُولَ عَلَى الْكَثِيرِ مِنَ الْمَالِ دُفْعَةً بِوُجُوهٍ غَيْرِ طَبِيعِيَّةٍ مِنَ الْكِيمِيَاءِ وَغَيْرِهَا.‎‎

     waʔakṯaru mā yaḥmilu ʕalā l-timāsi hāḏihi ṣ-ṣināʕati wantiḥālihā huwa kamā qulnāhu l-ʕajzu ʕani ṭ-ṭuruqi ṭ-ṭabīʕiyyati lilmaʕāši wabtiḡāʔuhu min ḡayri wujūhihi ṭ-ṭabīʕiyyati kal-filāḥati wat-tijārati waṣ-ṣināʕati fayastaṣʕibu l-ʕājizu btiḡāʔahu min hāḏihi wayarūmu l-ḥuṣūla ʕalā l-kaṯīri mina l-māli dufʕatan biwujūhin ḡayri ṭabīʕiyyatin mina l-kīmiyāʔi waḡayrihā.

     The most common cause of the desire to practice alchemy is, as we have stated; a person’s inability to make his living in a natural way and the wish to make a living in some way that, unlike agriculture, commerce, and (handi)craft, is not natural. A person without ability finds it difficult to make his living in such (legitimate occupations). He wants to get rich all at once through some (occupation) that is not natural, such as alchemy and other things.

     Translated by Franz Rosenthal

From Arabic مَعَاش‎ (maʕāš, “living”), from عَاشَ‎ (ʕāša, “to live”).

معاش • (maaş) (definite accusative معاشی‎ (maaşı), plural معاشات‎ (maaşat) or معائش‎ (maaiş))

1. salary, pension, or other source of income; living

• Turkish: maaş

• Redhouse, James W. (1890), “معاش”, in A Turkish and English Lexicon, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 1896

From Arabic مَعَاش‎ (maʕāš).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /mə.(ʔ)ɑːʃ/
• (Deccani) IPA^(key): /mə.(ʔ)ɑːʃ/

مَعاش • (ma'āš) f (Hindi spelling मआश)

1. economy
2. livelihood, subsistence, living

• “معاش”, in اُردُو لُغَت (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “معاش”, in Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English] (in English), Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2023.