Ways to say it
| Urdu | Romanization (Wiktionary) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| آشْنا | āśnā | feminine, masculine |
| عاشِق | 'āśiq | masculine |
| عاشِقَہ | 'āśiqa | feminine |
| مَعْشُوق | ma'śūq | masculine |
| مَعْشُوقَہ | ma'śūqa | feminine |
عاشِق is used to describe a passionate lover, often appearing in Sufi literature and classical poetry to describe someone possessed by intense, divine or romantic love. آشْنا is used to denote an acquaintance, a close companion or a lover. The term Jaana can also be used informally as a term of endearment meaning "beloved" when referring to one's partner.
Which one should you use?
There is a distinct difference between the person performing the love and the person being loved. عاشِق refers to the lover (the person who is in love), while مَعْشُوق refers to the beloved (the object of that love).
Is there a formal and an informal way to say it?
آشْنا is a more poetic and literary term. عاشِق and مَعْشُوق are also used in classical and Sufi literary contexts. In informal, affectionate settings, one might use the term of endearment Jaana to mean "beloved".
How does it change in a sentence?
To create feminine versions of the terms for lover and beloved, a feminine suffix 'a' is added to the end of the masculine forms. For example, the feminine form of the lover عاشِق is عاشِقَہ and the feminine form of the beloved مَعْشُوق is مَعْشُوقَہ.
How do you pronounce it?
āśnā
Did you know?
- In some literary traditions, the مَعْشُوق is described as being indifferent or cruel to the عاشِق, a trope that celebrates the nobility of unrequited love.
- The term عاشِق is shared with Arabic and Persian, creating a vast cross-cultural network of poetry where the same word describes longing across three different languages.
- When using the term of endearment Jaana, it functions more like 'my life' or 'my soul' than a literal translation of 'lover'.
Example sentences for Urdu are not verified yet.
Example conversation
Fatima and Hamza are discussing their personal lives.
- فاطمہ Fatimaحمزہ، کیا آپ کی زندگی میں کوئی آشْنا ہے؟Hamza, kya aap ki zindagi mein koi ashna hai?Hamza, is there a lover in your life?
- حمزہ Hamzaجی ہاں، میں ایک لڑکی سے محبت کرتا ہوں۔Ji haan, mein ek larki se mohabbat karta hoon.Yes, I love a girl.
- فاطمہ Fatimaوہ آپ کی آشْنا کب سے ہے؟Woh aap ki ashna kab se hai?Since when has she been your lover?
- حمزہ Hamzaہم دو سال سے ساتھ ہیں۔Hum do saal se saath hain.We have been together for two years.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “lover” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
