Learn Arabic › B1 › خَطِيب
خَطِيب
preacher /xɑˈtˤiːb/
nounB1#2373 most common
Also: orator, fiancé, suitor
Example sentences
هو خطيب.
He is a preacher.
يخطب الخطيب يوم الجمعة.
The preacher gives a sermon on Friday.
استمعنا إلى خطيب المسجد بعد الصلاة.
We listened to the mosque preacher after the prayer.
أحضرت خطيبي لزيارة أهلي.
I brought my fiancé to visit my family.
كان الخطباء القدامى يتنافسون في الفصاحة والبلاغة.
The ancient orators used to compete in eloquence and rhetoric.
صعد الخطيب المنبر وألقى خطبة هزّت مشاعر الحاضرين ببلاغتها الآسرة.
The preacher climbed the pulpit and delivered a sermon that stirred the audience's emotions with its captivating eloquence.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | خَطِيبٌ | خُطَبَاءُ |
| Genitive | خَطِيبٍ | خُطَبَاءَ |
| Accusative | خَطِيبًا | خُطَبَاءَ |
| Vocative | يَا خَطِيبُ | يَا خُطَبَاءُ |
Word family
خُطْبَةsermon, Friday sermon
خِطَابspeech, address, formal letter
خَطَبَto give a sermon; to propose marriage
خَطِيبَةfiancée
مَخْطُوبَةengaged, betrothed (feminine)
Etymology
خطيب comes from the Semitic root خ-ط-ب (kh-ṭ-b), which covers formal speech and, separately, the act of asking for someone's hand in marriage. The word follows the فَعِيل (fa'īl) pattern, common for professions and habitual roles, so it means roughly 'one who habitually addresses others.' That gave it two lasting senses: the person who delivers the mosque sermon, and the man who has formally proposed marriage. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root.
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