Word of the Day, Issue #030

attribute = نَعْت

نَعْت (plural نُعُوت ) and وَصْف (plural: أَوْصَاف ) both mean quality, attribute. The difference between them is that the former is only used in reference to good qualities or attributes, whereas the latter is used for both good and bad. As such, لَهُ نُعُوْتٌ كَثِيْرَة would mean he has many good qualities, whereas لَهُ أَوْصَافٌ كَثِيْرَة would mean he has many attributes. In grammatical terminology, we would use نَعْت to mean simply adjective, whether it is positive or otherwise, and it is synonymous in grammar with صِفَة . Note that we don't use وَصْف to mean adjective.