# رقیب
## Persian
### Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba). The semantic shift is already found in medieval poetry: "guardian of the beloved [who prevents the lover from seeing her]" > "rival in love" > "rival, competitor [in general]."

### Pronunciation

* (Classical Persian) IPA: [ɾa.ˈqiːβ]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [rä.qíːb]
* (Dari, formal) IPA: [rä.qíːb]
** (Kabuli) IPA: [rä.qíːb]
** (Hazaragi) IPA: [rä.qíb̥]
* (Iran, formal) IPA: [ɹæ.ʁíːb̥]
* (Tajik, formal) IPA: [ɾä.qíb]

### Noun

رقیب • (raqib) (plural رقیبان (raqibân) or رقیب‌ها (raqib-hâ) or رقبا (roqabâ))
* rival, competitor, adversary, antagonist
** 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 راbar raqībān afkanī har dam nazar hayf u dirēğ īnčunīn zāyi' či mēsāzī nigāh-i xwēš rāEvery moment, you cast looks at [my] rivals [in love]: such a pity, alas! Why do you waste your glances in such a way?(Classical Persian transliteration)
* (archaic, original sense) guardian, keeper
    Synonym: نگهبان (negahbân)

#### Descendants

* → Azerbaijani: rəqib
* → Georgian: რაყიფი (raq̇ipi)
* → Hindustani:
    Hindi: रक़ीब (raqīb)
    Urdu: رَقِیب (raqīb)
* → Ottoman Turkish: رقیب (rakib)

### Further reading

* 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

## Urdu
### Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian رَقِیب (raqīb), borrowed from Arabic رَقِيب (raqīb), from رَقَبَ (raqaba). First attested in c. 1564 as Middle Hindi رقیب (rqyb /⁠raqīb⁠/).

### Pronunciation

* (Standard Urdu) IPA: /ɾə.qiːb/
* Rhymes: -iːb
* Syllabification: رَ‧قِیب

### Noun

رَقِیب • (raqīb) m (Hindi spelling रक़ीब)
* rival; competitor (especially in love; enemy)
* (dated) one who watches over (guardian, guard; watchman, waiter of something)

#### Declension

Declension of رقیب :
| | singular | plural |
| direct | رَقِیب (raqīb) | رَقِیب (raqīb) |
| oblique | رَقِیب (raqīb) | رَقِیبوں (raqībō̃) |
| vocative | رَقِیب (raqīb) | رَقِیبو (raqībō) |

### References

* ↑ Platts, John T. (1884) “رقيب”, in A dictionary of Urdu, classical Hindi, and English, London: W. H. Allen & Co., page 596
* ↑ S. W. Fallon (1879) “رقیب”, in A New Hindustani-English Dictionary, Banaras, London: Trubner and Co.
* ↑ “رقیب”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.

### Further reading

* “رقیب”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2024.
* 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