رب

From Proto-Semitic *rabb-.

• IPA^(key): /rab.ba/

رَبَّ • (rabba) I (non-past يَرُبُّ (yarubbu), verbal noun رَبّ (rabb) or رِبَاب (ribāb))

1. to be master, to be lord
2. to have possession, to gather, to control
3. to have authority over, to govern
4. to impact, to comprise, to contain
5. to collect, to congregate
6. to grow, to increase, to become greater

رَبَّ • (rabba) I (non-past يَرُبُّ (yarubbu), verbal noun رَبّ (rabb))

1. to bring up, to raise (a child)

From Proto-Semitic *rabb-.

• IPA^(key): /rabb/

رَبّ • (rabb) m (plural أَرْبَاب (ʔarbāb) or رُبُوب (rubūb), feminine رَبَّة (rabba))

1. Lord, an epithet of God

   اَللهُ رَبُّ الْعَالَمِين ― allāhu rabbu l-ʕālamīn ― God is Lord of the Worlds

   الرَّبّ ― ar-rabb ― the LORD

2. god, deity
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 12:39:

     يَاصَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ ءَأَرْبَابٌ مُّتَفَرِّقُونَ خَيْرٌ أَمِ اللہُ الْوَاحِدُ الْقَهَّارُ

     [Joseph said:] "O my two companions of the prison! Are many different deities better than God the One [Who is the Source of all things], the Overpowering?"

3. master, lord, king, sovereign, potentate

   Coordinate terms: عَبْد (ʕabd), خَادِم (ḵādim)

   رَبُّ الدَّار ― rabbu d-dār ― master of the house

   رَبُّ الْعَائِلَة ― rabbu l-ʕāʔila ― paterfamilias

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 12:41:

     يَا صَاحِبَيِ السِّجْنِ أَمَّا أَحَدُكُمَا فَيَسْقِي رَبَّهُ خَمْرًا ۖ وَأَمَّا الْآخَرُ فَيُصْلَبُ فَتَأْكُلُ الطَّيْرُ مِن رَّأْسِهِ

     yā ṣāḥibayi s-sijni ʔammā ʔaḥadukumā fayasqī rabbahu ḵamran waʔammā l-ʔāḵaru fayuṣlabu fataʔkulu ṭ-ṭayru min raʔsihi

     “O my fellow inmates! One of you will serve his master wine; while the other will be crucified, and the birds will eat from his head. Thus the matter you are inquiring about is settled.”

4. leader, chief, head

   رَبُّ بَحْرِيّ ― rabbu baḥriyy ― seaman (naval rank)

5. owner, proprietor
6. (with a following genitive) one possessed of, one endowed with
7. (with a following genitive) having to do with
8. verbal noun of رَبَّ (rabba) (form I)

• رُبُوبِيَّة (rubūbiyya)
• رُبَّان (rubbān)
• إِلَٰه (ʔilāh)
• الله (allāh)

• → Afar: Rábbi
• → Azerbaijani: rəbb, Rəbb
• → Bashkir: раббы (rabbı)
• → Bengali: রব (robo)
• → Ottoman Turkish: رب (rabb)
  • Serbo-Croatian: rȁb, ра̏б
• (via plural) → Ottoman Turkish: ارباب
  • Turkish: erbap
  • → Macedonian: ербап (erbap)

• IPA^(key): /rubb/

رُبّ • (rubb) m (plural رِبَاب (ribāb) or رُبُوب (rubūb))

1. thickened fruit juice, thickened juice
2. mash, pulp

• → Middle Armenian: ռուպ (ṙup), ըռուպ (əṙup)
• → Persian: رب (rob)
• → Spanish: arrope
  • → English: arrope

• مُرَبَّب (murabbab, “jam, marmalade”)

From Proto-Semitic *rabb-.

• IPA^(key): /rub.ba/

رُبَّ • (rubba)

1. (with a following indefinite genitive) many

   رُبَّ رَجُلٍ (rubba rajulin, “many a man”)

   رُبَّ مَرَّةٍ (rubba marratin, “many a time”)

Indeclinable, followed by the indefinite genitive singular.

رُبَّ • (rubba) (with following genitive)

1. likely, perhaps, mayhap, potentially

Sometimes considered a preposition, an adverb or an adjective, it can mean both profusion (something happens a lot) or rarity (something could possibly happen). See the following example:

1. رُبَّ فَقِيرٍ مُهَانٍ وَهُوَ غَنِيُّ ٱلنَّفْسِ.

   rubba faqīrin muhānin wahuwa ḡaniyyu n-nafsi.

   Many a despised poor man may have a rich soul.

   رُبَّ طَالِبٍ مُجْتَهِدٍ يَفْشَلُ.

   rubba ṭālibin mujtahidin yafšalu.

   Even a hardworking student can possibly fail.

• رُبَّمَا (rubbamā)

رَبِّ • (rabbi) (form II) /rab.bi/

1. second-person masculine singular imperative of رَبَّى (rabbā)

Borrowed from Arabic رَبّ (rabb).

رب • (rab)

1. the Lord, God

رب • (rabb)

1. (obsolete) master, lord

• In modern Persian, ارباب (arbâb, originally the Arabic plural of رب) should be used for "lord," even in the singular. رب should be used only for God.

Borrowed from Arabic رُبّ (rubb).

رب • (rob)

1. tomato sauce

Borrowed from Classical Persian رب (rabb), from Arabic رَبّ (rabb).

• (Standard Punjabi) IPA^(key): /ɾəb.bə̆/, [ɾɐbˑə̆]

رَبّ • (rabb) m (Gurmukhi spelling ਰੱਬ)

1. Lord; An epithet for God.

   Synonyms: خُدا (xudā), اللہ (allāh), واہِگُرُو (vāhigurū)

2. (in compounds) owner; possessor

• Iqbal, Salah ud-Din (2002) “رب”, in vaḍḍī panjābī lughat‎ (in Punjabi), Lahore: ʻAzīz Pablisharz
• “ਰੱਬ”, in Punjabi-English Dictionary, Patiala: Punjabi University, 2025

Borrowed from Classical Persian رب (rab, rabb), from Arabic رَبّ (rabb).

• (Standard Urdu) IPA^(key): /ɾəb/
• Rhymes: -əb
• Hyphenation: رَب

رَب • (rab) m (formal plural ارباب, Hindi spelling रब)

1. Lord; An epithet for God.

   Synonyms: خدا (xudā), اللہ (allāh), بھگوان (bhagvān)

2. (in compounds) owner; possessor

• رَبّا (rabbā)

• “رب”, in اُردُو لُغَت (urdū luġat) (in Urdu), Ministry of Education: Government of Pakistan, 2017.
• “رب”, in ریخْتَہ لُغَت (rexta luġat) - Rekhta Dictionary [Urdu dictionary with meanings in Hindi & English], Noida, India: Rekhta Foundation, 2025.
• Qureshi, Bashir Ahmad (1971) “رب”, in Kitabistan's 20th Century Standard Dictionary‎, Lahore: Kitabistan Pub. Co.