Learn Arabic › B2 › أَسْمَر
أَسْمَر
brown-skinned (dark-complexioned, tan) /ˈʔasmar/
nounB2#4368 most common
Also: tan-colored, dusky, swarthy
Example sentences
هَذَا الرَّجُلُ أَسْمَرُ.
This man is brown-skinned.
أُحِبُّ لَوْنَ بَشَرَتِهِ السَّمْرَاء.
I love the tan color of his skin.
كَانَ الْوَلَدُ أَسْمَرَ الْبَشَرَةِ مِثْلَ أَبِيهِ.
The boy was brown-skinned like his father.
الرِّجَالُ السُّمْرُ فِي تِلْكَ الْقَرْيَةِ يَعْمَلُونَ فِي الزِّرَاعَةِ.
The brown-skinned men in that village work in agriculture.
غَنَّتِ الْمُطْرِبَةُ أُغْنِيَةً عَنِ الْفَتَاةِ السَّمْرَاءِ ذَاتِ الْعَيْنَيْنِ السَّوْدَاوَيْنِ.
The singer sang a song about the brown-skinned girl with black eyes.
يَصِفُ الشُّعَرَاءُ الْقُدَامَى مَحْبُوبَاتِهِمُ السُّمْرَ بِأَبْيَاتٍ رَقِيقَةٍ تُمَجِّدُ جَمَالَ الْبَشَرَةِ الْأَخَّاذ.
The old poets describe their brown-skinned beloveds in tender verses that glorify the captivating beauty of tan skin.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَسْمَرُ | سُمْرٌ |
| Genitive | أَسْمَرَ | سُمْرٍ |
| Accusative | أَسْمَرَ | سُمْرًا |
| Vocative | يَا أَسْمَرُ | يَا سُمْرُ |
Word family
سَمْرَاءbrown-skinned, tan (feminine)
سُمْرbrown-skinned, tan (plural)
سُمْرَةtan, brownness of skin
اِسْمَرَّto become tan or brown-skinned
Etymology
أسمر comes from the Arabic root س-م-ر (s-m-r), which carries a core sense of dusky brownness. The same root gives سَمَر (samar), meaning an evening conversation, and some traditional lexicographers link the two through the dim, tawny light of dusk, the hour when people used to sit and talk. As a color word, أسمر follows the أفعل pattern that Arabic uses for basic colors and bodily traits, alongside أحمر (red) and أعرج (lame). Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so no Indo-European root or cognates apply here.
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