Learn Arabic › B1 › خان
خان
to betray /ˈxaː.na/
verbB1#2413 most common
Also: to be unfaithful to, to deceive, to fail (someone), let down
Example sentences
هُوَ خَانَ صَدِيقَهُ.
He betrayed his friend.
لَا تَخُنْ أَصْدِقَاءَكَ أَبَدًا.
Never betray your friends.
خَانَتْ زَوْجَهَا مَعَ رَجُلٍ آخَرَ.
She was unfaithful to her husband with another man.
خَانَ الْجُنْدِيُّ وَطَنَهُ وَبَاعَ أَسْرَارَهُ لِلْعَدُوِّ.
The soldier betrayed his homeland and sold its secrets to the enemy.
خَانَتْهُ ذَاكِرَتُهُ فِي اللَّحْظَةِ الْحَاسِمَةِ.
His memory failed him at the crucial moment.
مَنْ يَخُنْ أَمَانَتَهُ مَرَّةً، يَصْعُبُ أَنْ يُوثَقَ بِهِ مَرَّةً أُخْرَى.
Whoever betrays a trust once will find it hard to be trusted again.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَخُونُ | خُنْتُ | سَأَخُونُ |
| 2sg | تَخُونُ | خُنْتَ | سَتَخُونُ |
| 3sg | يَخُونُ | خَانَ | سَيَخُونُ |
| 1pl | نَخُونُ | خُنَّا | سَنَخُونُ |
| 2pl | تَخُونُونَ | خُنْتُمْ | سَتَخُونُونَ |
| 3pl | يَخُونُونَ | خَانُوا | سَيَخُونُونَ |
Word family
خِيَانَةbetrayal, treason
خَائِنtraitor, treacherous person
خَوَّانhabitually treacherous, deeply disloyal
مَخُونbetrayed, one who has been wronged by treachery
Etymology
خان comes from the Semitic root kh-w-n (خ و ن), which centers on breach of trust and disloyalty. It is a hollow verb: the middle radical waw surfaces as a long ā in the past tense and as ū in the present, a regular pattern for this verb class in Arabic. The root is native to Arabic and other Semitic languages, not borrowed, and it appears already in the Quran with the sense of betraying a trust or covenant.
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