Learn ArabicB1 › خَلِيج

خَلِيج

gulf (a large inlet of the sea, e.g. the Arabian Gulf) /xaˈliːdʒ/

nounB1#2837 most common

Also: bay, cove, inlet

Example sentences

هذا خليج جميل.
This is a beautiful gulf.
نسكن قرب الخليج.
We live near the gulf.
يقع الخليج العربي بين إيران والجزيرة العربية.
The Arabian Gulf lies between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula.
تشتهر دول الخليج بإنتاج النفط والغاز.
The Gulf states are known for oil and gas production.
تعاني مياه الخليج من التلوث بسبب الأنشطة الصناعية على سواحله.
The gulf's waters suffer from pollution caused by industrial activity along its coasts.
أدى ارتفاع درجة حرارة مياه الخليج تدريجيًا إلى اضطراب واضح في توازن نظامه البيئي البحري.
The gradual rise in the gulf's water temperature has led to a clear disruption in the balance of its marine ecosystem.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeخَلِيجٌخُلْجَانٌ
Genitiveخَلِيجٍخُلْجَانٍ
Accusativeخَلِيجًاخُلْجَانًا
Vocativeيا خَلِيجُيا خُلْجَانُ

Word family

خَلَجَto pull, tug; throb, twitch
اِخْتِلاجtwitch, spasm, convulsion
خَلِيجِيّof the Gulf; a Gulf Arab
خُلَيْجsmall gulf, cove (diminutive)

Etymology

خليج comes from the Arabic triliteral root خ ل ج (kh-l-j), whose base verb خَلَجَ means to pull, tug, or draw something away, and by extension to throb or twitch. The noun خليج takes the فَعِيل (faʿīl) pattern and describes a body of water that seems drawn off or pulled inward from the open sea, hence a gulf or bay. This is a native Semitic formation, not a European loanword.

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