Learn ArabicB1 › أُنْثَى

أُنْثَى

female /ʔunˈθaː/

nounB1#2930 most common

Also: female (of a species), the female one

Example sentences

هَذِهِ أُنْثَى.
This is a female.
هَذِهِ القِطَّةُ أُنْثَى.
This cat is female.
وَلَدَتِ الأُنْثَى خَمْسَةَ صِغَارٍ.
The female gave birth to five young.
يُمْكِنُ تَمْيِيزُ الذَّكَرِ عَنِ الأُنْثَى بِلَوْنِ الرِّيشِ.
The male can be told apart from the female by the color of its feathers.
خَلَقَ اللَّهُ الذَّكَرَ وَالْأُنْثَى مِنْ نَفْسٍ وَاحِدَةٍ.
God created the male and the female from a single soul.
تُظْهِرُ الدِّرَاسَاتُ أَنَّ إِنَاثَ بَعْضِ الْأَنْوَاعِ أَكْبَرُ حَجْمًا مِنَ الذُّكُورِ.
Studies show that the females of some species are larger than the males.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeأُنْثَىإِنَاثٌ
Genitiveأُنْثَىإِنَاثٍ
Accusativeأُنْثَىإِنَاثًا
Vocativeأُنْثَىإِنَاثُ

Word family

إِنَاثfemales (plural)
أُنْثَوِيّfemale, feminine (relating to)
مُؤَنَّثgrammatically feminine
تَأْنِيثfeminization, marking as feminine
أَنِيثsoft, pliant, effeminate

Etymology

أُنْثَى comes from the Semitic root ء ن ث, which old Arabic dictionaries tie to softness and pliancy, in contrast with the root ذ ك ر (male), linked to hardness and strength. The word takes the pattern فُعْلَى, a common shape for feminine diptote nouns. It appears already in the Quran paired with ذَكَر to mean male and female generally, of people or animals.

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