Learn Arabic › B1 › أَفْعَى
أَفْعَى
viper /ʔafˈʕaː/
nounB1#2846 most common
Also: venomous snake, serpent, (figurative) treacherous, cunning person
Example sentences
رَأَيْتُ أَفْعَى فِي الحَدِيقَةِ.
I saw a viper in the garden.
الأَفْعَى حَيَوَانٌ خَطِيرٌ.
The viper is a dangerous animal.
عَضَّتِ الأَفْعَى الرَّجُلَ وَهُوَ يَمْشِي فِي الغَابَةِ.
The viper bit the man while he was walking in the forest.
تَتَلَوَّى الأَفَاعِي بَيْنَ الصُّخُورِ بَحْثًا عَنِ الظِّلِّ.
Vipers slither among the rocks looking for shade.
يُقَالُ إِنَّ سُمَّ بَعْضِ الأَفَاعِي قَادِرٌ عَلَى قَتْلِ إِنْسَانٍ فِي دَقَائِقَ مَعْدُودَةٍ.
It is said that the venom of some vipers can kill a person within a few minutes.
وَصَفَهُ الشَّاعِرُ بِأَنَّهُ أَفْعَى رَقْطَاءُ تَتَرَبَّصُ بِفَرِيسَتِهَا فِي صَمْتٍ قَبْلَ أَنْ تَنْقَضَّ عَلَيْهَا فَجْأَةً.
The poet described him as a spotted viper lying in wait for its prey in silence before suddenly pouncing on it.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | أَفْعَى | أَفَاعٍ |
| Genitive | أَفْعَى | أَفَاعٍ |
| Accusative | أَفْعَى | أَفَاعِيَ |
| Vocative | يَا أَفْعَى | يَا أَفَاعِيَ |
Word family
أَفَاعٍvipers (plural)
أَفْعَوانِيّserpentine, winding (of a road or staircase)
أَفْعُوان(literary) a large viper, serpent
Etymology
Classical Arabic lexicographers trace أَفْعَى to the root ف ع و, tied to the verb فَعَا, describing a wound that swells or festers. The name likely refers to the swelling a viper's bite leaves on its victim. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root. Biblical Hebrew preserves a direct cognate, אֶפְעֶה (ef'eh), also meaning viper, used in Isaiah and Job.
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