Learn Arabic › A1 › أَخ
أَخ
brother /ˈʔax/
nounA1#272 most common
Also: male sibling, fellow, comrade (as a term of address)
Example sentences
هَذَا أَخِي.
This is my brother.
لِي أَخٌ وَأُخْتٌ.
I have a brother and a sister.
أَخِي يَدْرُسُ فِي الجَامِعَةِ.
My brother studies at the university.
ذَهَبْتُ مَعَ أَخِي إِلَى السُّوقِ أَمْسِ.
I went with my brother to the market yesterday.
يُعَامِلُنِي زَمِيلِي كَأَخٍ لَهُ.
My colleague treats me like a brother to him.
مَنْ وَقَفَ إِلَى جَانِبِكَ فِي الشِّدَّةِ فَهُوَ أَخُوكَ الحَقِيقِيُّ.
Whoever stood by you in hardship is your true brother.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَخٌ | إِخْوَةٌ |
| Genitive | أَخٍ | إِخْوَةٍ |
| Accusative | أَخًا | إِخْوَةً |
| Vocative | يَا أَخُ | يَا إِخْوَةُ |
Word family
أُخْتsisterإِخْوَةbrothers, siblings
أُخُوَّةbrotherhood, fraternity
آخَىto fraternize with, become brothers
أَخَوِيّbrotherly, fraternal
Etymology
أَخ goes back to Proto-Semitic *ʼaḫ-, a basic kinship term for brother shared across the Semitic family. Cognates appear in Hebrew, Aramaic, and Akkadian. The Arabic root is أ-خ-و, with a weak final و that surfaces in the construct forms أَخُو, أَخَا, أَخِي and in the plural إِخْوَة. The word is Semitic and has no Indo-European source.
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