Learn ArabicA2 › ثانَوِيّ

ثانَوِيّ

secondary /θaːnaˈwijj/

adjectiveA2#1119 most common

Also: minor, subordinate, subsidiary

Example sentences

المدرسة الثانوية كبيرة.
The secondary school is big.
أدرس في المرحلة الثانوية.
I study in the secondary stage.
هذا سبب ثانوي وليس رئيسياً.
This is a secondary reason, not a main one.
لعب الممثل دوراً ثانوياً في الفيلم.
The actor played a secondary role in the film.
تُعتبر هذه القضية ثانوية مقارنة بالمشكلات الاقتصادية الكبرى.
This issue is considered secondary compared to the major economic problems.
رغم أهميته الظاهرية، يبقى هذا العامل ثانوياً في تحليلنا النهائي للأزمة.
Despite its apparent importance, this factor remains secondary in our final analysis of the crisis.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeثانَوِيٌّثانَوِيّونَ
Genitiveثانَوِيٍّثانَوِيّينَ
Accusativeثانَوِيًّاثانَوِيّينَ
Vocativeيا ثانَوِيُّيا ثانَوِيّونَ

Word family

ثانٍsecond
ثانَوِيَّةsecondary school; secondariness
ثُنائِيّbinary, dual
اِثْنانtwo
ثَنَّىto double, to fold

Etymology

ثانَوِيّ is built from ثانٍ, 'second', plus the nisba ending ـِيّ that turns a noun into a relational adjective. The root ث-ن-ي carries the sense of folding, doubling, or repeating, which also gives Arabic its word for 'two'. So 'secondary' is literally 'of the second order'.

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