Learn Arabic › B2 › ثَعْلَب
ثَعْلَب
fox /ˈθaʕ.lab/
nounB2#4036 most common
Also: a cunning or sly person
Example sentences
اَلثَّعْلَبُ حَيَوَانٌ.
The fox is an animal.
رَأَيْتُ ثَعْلَبًا فِي الغَابَةِ.
I saw a fox in the forest.
اَلثَّعْلَبُ حَيَوَانٌ مَاكِرٌ.
The fox is a cunning animal.
يَعِيشُ الثَّعْلَبُ فِي جُحْرٍ تَحْتَ الأَرْضِ.
The fox lives in a burrow underground.
يُضْرَبُ المَثَلُ بِالثَّعْلَبِ فِي الدَّهَاءِ وَالمَكْرِ.
The fox is proverbial for cunning and slyness.
فِي القِصَّةِ، تَظَاهَرَ الثَّعْلَبُ بِالمَرَضِ لِيَخْدَعَ الدِّيكَ وَيَصْطَادَهُ.
In the story, the fox pretended to be sick to trick the rooster and catch it.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | ثَعْلَبٌ | ثَعَالِبُ |
| Genitive | ثَعْلَبٍ | ثَعَالِبَ |
| Accusative | ثَعْلَبًا | ثَعَالِبَ |
| Vocative | يَا ثَعْلَبُ | يَا ثَعَالِبُ |
Word family
ثَعْلَبَةvixen (female fox)
ثَعْلَبِيّfox-like, vulpine
تَثَعْلَبَto act slyly, to behave like a fox
دَاءُ الثَّعْلَبalopecia areata (literally "the fox disease")
Etymology
Thaʿlab comes from a Semitic root specific to Arabic and its close relatives, not from a wider Indo-European family. It denotes the fox as a distinct animal name rather than a compound of smaller parts. Classical dictionaries treat it as a base noun with no clear verbal root behind it.
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