Ohood
The plural of ʿahd, a covenant — one of the Peninsular female names that are plurals borne by a single person.
- Root
- ʿ-h-d (ع-ه-د)
- Gender
- Female
- Meaning
- Covenants, pledges — plural of ʿahd
- Origin
- Arabic
Meaning
ʿ-h-d (ع-ه-د). The *ʿahd* is the binding word: the covenant, the pledge, the oath, the safe-conduct given and then kept. Ibn Manẓūr gathers under the root the sense of charging someone with a trust (*ʿahida ilayhi*, to enjoin upon him), of keeping faith with what was given (*riʿāyat al-ʿahd*), and of returning to something already known — hence *maʿhad*, the place one keeps coming back to, and *ʿahd* used of rain falling again on ground it has already watered.
A plural used of one person
*ʿUhūd* is the plural of *ʿahd*, and it names a single bearer. That is not a slip but a pattern: a whole family of Peninsular female names are plurals — ʿUhūd, Nujūd, Jawāhir, Bashāʾir — where the plural is read as abundance rather than number, much as an English speaker hears 'graces' without counting them. Choosing the plural is choosing the fuller word, not naming several things.
Note
The singular *ʿAhd* is not ordinarily given as a name; here the plural is the name.
Frequently asked questions
Why is a plural used as one person's name?
It is a Peninsular pattern — Ohood, Njoud, Jawaher, Bashaʾir. The plural is read as abundance rather than as a count, so the name means fullness of the thing, not several of it.
What does ʿahd mean exactly?
A binding undertaking — covenant, pledge, oath, or safe-conduct — and by extension the keeping of it. The same root gives maʿhad, the place one returns to.
Sources
- ابن منظور، لسان العرب، 711هـ — مادة: عهد — العهد: الوصية والموثق والأمان، والمعهد
Last reviewed: 2026-09-01