In English, the etymology of most words either comes from Latin or the old Germanic languages which are dead languages and thus word origins are not instantly recognizable for the modern speaker.

In Arabic on the other hand, the root of almost every word is pretty much alive. Roots in Arabic are either 3-letter of 4-letter words that have a handful of basic meanings, but the addition of different diacritics or letters can open up a myriad of new possibilities, each with a hint of the root's essence.

For example, the root ن ف س indicates the movement of air
‎نَفَس (breath) is the movement of air inside one's body
‎نَفْس (soul) belongs to the same root since one's life is dependent on air
‎نَفْس can also mean "blood", since one’s life is as dependent on it as it is on air
‎نِفَاس (puerperium) builds on the previous word, referring to the birth of a new soul
‎تَنْفِيس (release, relief) was probably born out of the physical sigh of relief associated with getting out of distress
‎مُنَافَسَة (competition) was called so because people breathe heavily when they're having a stand-off
‎نَفِيس (precious) builds on the previous word, because precious items are the ones worth competing over
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المراجع: مقاييس اللغة