Majlis Meaning in English: The Word, the Room and the Sofa

Majlis in English means “a place of sitting”. The Arabic word is مجلس, built on the verb jalasa, to sit, and it is pronounced MAJ-lis. Depending on who is speaking, it can mean a room in a house, a gathering of people, a national parliament or the sofa set that runs around the walls. This page sets out each sense, the grammar behind the word, and what people mean when they shop for one.

Majlis in English: the short answer

There is no one-word English equivalent, so the right translation depends on the sentence.

“Sitting room” is the closest literal match, and it is a fair one. An English sitting room and an Arabic majlis are both named after the act of sitting down with company. The difference is in what the room is for. UNESCO, which inscribed the majlis as a cultural and social space in 2015, describes it as a place where people gather to discuss local events, exchange news, receive guests, settle problems, pay condolences and hold wedding receptions. That is more than an English sitting room is asked to do, which is why most English writers now leave the word untranslated.

The root j-l-s: how one verb gives majlis, jalsa and julus

Arabic builds families of words from three-consonant roots, and majlis belongs to the root j-l-s, which carries the idea of sitting.

• jalasa (جلس): he sat. This is the base verb.
• julus (جلوس): the act of sitting. A formal sitting room is ghurfat al-julus.
• jalsa (جلسة): a sitting or a session. In shops across the Gulf and the Levant it is also the word for the seating set itself.
• jalis (جليس): a companion, literally the person you sit with.
• majlis (مجلس): the place where sitting happens.

The ma- at the front is the part that turns the verb into a place. Arabic does this regularly: maktab, an office, is the place of writing, and matbakh, a kitchen, is the place of cooking. So majlis is, quite exactly, “the sitting place”. That grammar also explains why the word stretches so easily. Any place where people sit together for a purpose can be a majlis, from a tent to a parliament chamber.

If you have seen the two words side by side in product names, our page on jalsa and majlis sets explains how sellers use each one.

Three meanings: the room, the gathering, the seating

The room

In homes across the Arabian Peninsula the majlis is the room where guests are received. UNESCO describes it as typically a large space with carpets on the floor and cushions against the wall, usually with a stove or fire for preparing coffee. In Qatar it traditionally sits near the entrance of the house. Many homes keep more than one, so that men and women can each host their own visitors. The Saudi majlis page describes how the room differs from Najd to the Hijaz.

The gathering

The same word names what happens in the room. A family may say it “holds a majlis” on a fixed evening each week. A ruler’s or elder’s majlis is an open audience where people bring requests and disputes. From there it is a short step to the formal sense of a council.

The seating

In furniture, a majlis is the set that furnishes the room and lines its walls. This is the sense behind searches such as “majlis for sale” or “blue majlis”. Shoppers use the word loosely for any Arabic seating, but Sofhu keeps two products apart. The Arabic majlis is the raised, fully upholstered set at sofa height, with a solid base, a fixed back and bolster armrests, as in the photos on this page. The Arabic floor sofa is the low set of loose seat mattresses, back cushions and armrest blocks at floor level.

Pronunciation, spelling and plural

Say MAJ-lis. The stress falls on the first syllable, the j is the j of “jam” and the final s stays an s. Two things can catch English speakers out. First, there is no vowel between the j and the l, so it is not “maj-uh-lis”. Second, some Gulf dialects soften the j towards a y, which is why you may hear MAY-lis in the Emirates or Kuwait. Both are the same word.

Spelling varies because Arabic script does not write short vowels, and each language that borrowed the word hears them a little differently.

• majlis: the standard English transliteration from Arabic.
• majles: common for the Persian form, as in Iran’s parliament.
• mejlis: used for Turkmen and Crimean Tatar.
• meclis: the modern Turkish spelling, where c is pronounced j.

The plural has two accepted forms. Arabic uses majalis (مجالس). English speakers also add the regular ending and write majlises. Dictionaries of Arabic will only give majalis, but majlises is normal in English text and is what many buyers type when they compare several sets.

How the word is used from the Gulf to Indonesia

The word travelled with Arabic, and in most places it kept the sense of a body that sits and deliberates.

• Gulf states and Saudi Arabia. Majlis is the everyday word for the guest room and for consultative bodies such as the Majlis of Oman and the Majlis of Saudi Arabia. Kuwait’s National Assembly is the Majlis al-Umma, although Kuwaitis call the home reception room a diwaniya.
• Iran. The parliament is the Majles.
• Türkiye and Central Asia. Türkiye’s Grand National Assembly is a meclis. Uzbekistan has the Oliy Majlis and Tajikistan the Majlisi Oli.
• South and South-East Asia. Pakistan’s parliament is formally the Majlis-e-Shoora, the Maldives has the People’s Majlis, and Indonesia’s People’s Consultative Assembly is the Majelis Permusyawaratan Rakyat. In Malaysia the word appears in the names of local councils.

Outside politics, the word is also used for social and religious gatherings of many kinds. In every case the idea underneath is the same: people sitting together with a shared purpose. If you want the names other countries give the room and the seating, see the glossary of floor seating names by country.

Majlis as furniture: what English speakers mean when they shop

When someone searches for a majlis in English, they nearly always mean the seating, not the room. A majlis set runs along one, two or three walls and is built in sections so it can be laid out as a single row, an L or a U. Sofhu’s sets are planned against the wall behind them, much as the cushions sit against the wall in UNESCO’s description. If what you picture is loose cushions at floor level, ask for a floor sofa.

A few points help when you describe what you want:

1. Say the layout. Single wall, L-shape or U-shape. Our guide to majlis sofa sets shows each.
2. Give the wall lengths. Sofhu is a manufacturer and cuts each set to the customer’s room measurements, so the wall lengths decide the pieces.
3. Name the feel. The seats are filled with 32 kg/m³ (32 DNS) high-density foam, with no springs. On a custom order you can ask for a softer or firmer seat.
4. Choose the fabric and colour. Covers are zippered and removable.

Sets are made in Türkiye and shipped free worldwide. Import duties or taxes may apply depending on where you live, and you can ask about that before ordering. To see the parts by name, read parts of a majlis set. When you are ready, send your measurements through the quote page or on WhatsApp.

Related words you will meet

Majlis rarely travels alone. Jalsa is the sitting or the set. Diwan is a council room or a long seat, depending on the country. Diwaniya is the Kuwaiti men’s reception hall and the social evening held in it. Madafa is the guest hall of a family or village in Jordan, Palestine and Syria. None is an exact synonym, but all describe the same habit of keeping a room ready for guests. Sofhu’s older article on what an Arabic sofa is covers the furniture side, and the history of the Arabic sofa follows it back in time. For how to behave when you are invited into one, see majlis etiquette for guests, and for the heritage listing, the majlis and UNESCO.