رب
Rabb
Topic
A divine name: the loving Lord and commanding Master, used in the forms Rabbī (my Lord) and Rabbanā (our Lord) when calling on God.
What it means
Rabb is the Arabic word for Lord. It combines the sense of one who nurtures and sustains with the sense of one who has authority and commands. It is a divine name, and the Quran opens with praise to God as Rabb al-ʿālamīn, Lord of the worlds (1:2). Muslims use it in the possessive forms Rabbī, my Lord, and Rabbanā, our Lord, when they call on God in supplication. Many of the prayers recorded in the Quran begin with it, such as “Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the world to come” (2:201).
Often misunderstood as
That “Lord” alone gives the meaning, when rabb joins loving care with command.
Term and Arabic as listed in Ismail al Faruqi, Toward Islamic English (International Institute of Islamic Thought, 1995), p. 32, listed as RABB. The definition is restated here.