Oasis Meaning: Here’s What It Means and How to Use It

The word oasis is a fairly common word in the English language. It pops up all over the place, from popular books, TV shows, and movies to everyday language and metaphors. Although it isn’t the most common word out there, it’s still an important word to understand. 

So, what is the definition of the word oasis? Where did it come from? How long has it been in the English language? How do you use it in your vocabulary? Those are the questions that this article is going to answer. Let’s get into it!

What Is the Meaning of the Word Oasis?

This simple five-letter word has a fairly straightforward definition. While some English words have several different definitions, the word oasis only has two, and they are closely related. 

Here are the definitions of oasis (oʊˈeɪ sɪs): 

• A place in the middle of the desert with substantial amounts of water, and therefore plants and other life, sometimes even a town or village
• A quiet, peaceful, or pleasant place in the middle of a stressful or undesirable one

The common theme between these two definitions is that an oasis is a place of reprieve from the surrounding harshness. It’s a safe place full of life when the surrounding places are barren. It’s a place where you can rest. 

An oasis — plural oases — found in the desert is a source of life. In the desert, there is no water or food, only sand. An oasis is the exception. It is often the thing that saves somebody’s life who is wandering through the wilderness because of the presence of water and food. 

Caravans or solo travelers often stop in oases to recharge, hydrate, and eat before they continue on their journey. 

Most of us won’t ever encounter a desert oasis, but we can still use this word as a metaphor. The word oasis is often used metaphorically in the English language to signify any place of rest, peace, or reprieve. Maybe your house is your oasis from the stress of your job, or maybe your favorite coffee shop is an oasis where you can relax and drink your favorite beverage.

Where Did the Word Oasis Come From?

To help bring more clarity to the definition of oasis, let’s look at the history of how it came to be, — AKA, its etymology. 

Many words in English find their oldest roots in Latin, but the word oasis actually has Egyptian origins. The Hamitic, Coptic, or ancient Egyptian word ouih simply means “to dwell.” It was the root word for another Hamitic word wahe or ouahe, which means “dwelling place” and later came to mean “oasis” in the definition we still know today. 

This word also is the basis for the Arabic word wahah and the Turkish word vaha which both share the same definition as the English word oasis. 

From there, the word made its way into Greek. The ancient Greek óasis or Ὄασις maintained the same definition as the Hamitic ouahe. Then this definition made its way into late Latin in the word oasis.

It wasn’t until the 1600s that the word officially made its way into the English language. In its first English usage, it had the meaning associated with a place of life and rest in the dessert. By the 1800s, the word had been used enough times that it had begun to be used metaphorically, which is how we now have its secondary definition. 

Oasis in Other Languages

Here is a list of translations for oasis in various other languages:

• Spanish: oasis
• French: oasis
• Turkish: vaha
• Arabic: واحه (wahah)
• Bulgarian: оазис (oazis)
• Czech: oáza
• Korean: 오아시스 (oasiseu)
• Japanese: オアシス (oashisu)

What Are Some Example Sentences That Use the Word Oasis?

Seeing a word in context can help bring more clarity to its definition and how you can use it in your own life. Here are some examples of oasis used in a sentence with each of its different meanings.

He was wandering in the Libyan desert for eight hours before he encountered an oasis and was able to drink water. 

It was just a small oasis, but it was all the water and shade she needed to continue on her journey eastward. 

Have you ever been to the Oasis of Peace spa? It is my safe haven of relaxation!

My man cave is my oasis of serenity, so don’t come in here and lay all of these problems from the outside world on me. 

As an immigrant from England, the football pub here is my oasis, safe from the weird American English and other cultural differences where I can just focus on the sport I love. 

Now that our favorite little restaurant is closing, we need to find a new oasis of delicious food, peace, and quiet. 

I wasn’t sure if the oasis I saw before me was real or if it was just a mirage playing tricks on my brain in the desert heat. 

What Are the Synonyms of the Word Oasis?

Here are some synonyms of the word oasis that you might find in a thesaurus:

• Wellspring
• Fountain
• Watering hole
• Reprieve
• Getaway
• Haven
• Sanctuary
• Escape
• Retreat
• Sanctum

The Word Oasis

Now you know everything you need to know about the word oasis, its definition, its history, and how to use it in writing and conversation. Don’t forget to come back to this article if you ever forget oasis’s meaning — consider The Word Counter an oasis of lexical knowledge!

Sources:

A Description of the Afro-Asiatic (Hamito-Semitic) Language Family | Brigham Young University

OASIS | Cambridge English Dictionary

OASIS | Meaning & Definition for UK English | Lexico