Learn Arabic › A1 › رَأَم
رَأَم
to grow tenderly fond of and nurse (esp. a she-camel toward her young) /ˈraʔama/
verbA1#451 most common
Also: to show maternal affection, to dote on, to adopt and suckle a young one, (of a wound) to close up and heal
Example sentences
رَأَمَتِ النّاقَةُ وَلَدَها.
The she-camel grew fond of her calf.
رَأَمَتِ النَّعْجَةُ حَمَلَها وَأَرْضَعَتْهُ.
The ewe grew tender toward her lamb and nursed it.
لَمْ تَرْأَمِ النّاقَةُ الحُوارَ الغَريبَ في أَوَّلِ الأَمْرِ.
The she-camel did not take to the strange calf at first.
كُلَّما رَأَمَتِ النّاقَةُ فَصيلَها هَدَأَتْ وَدَرَّ لَبَنُها.
Whenever the she-camel grew fond of her calf, she settled and her milk flowed.
ظَلَّ الرّاعي يَحْتالُ عَلَى النّاقَةِ حَتّى رَأَمَتْ يَتيمَ القَطيعِ كَأَنَّهُ وَلَدُها.
The herder kept coaxing the she-camel until she came to love the herd's orphan as if it were her own.
في الشِّعْرِ القَديمِ تُشَبَّهُ الأُمُّ الحانِيَةُ بِناقَةٍ رَؤومٍ تَرْأَمُ فَصيلَها وَلا تُفارِقُهُ.
In old poetry the doting mother is likened to a tender she-camel that cherishes her calf and never leaves it.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَرْأَمُ | رَأَمْتُ | سَأَرْأَمُ |
| 2sg | تَرْأَمُ | رَأَمْتَ | سَتَرْأَمُ |
| 3sg | يَرْأَمُ | رَأَمَ | سَيَرْأَمُ |
| 1pl | نَرْأَمُ | رَأَمْنَا | سَنَرْأَمُ |
| 2pl | تَرْأَمُونَ | رَأَمْتُمْ | سَتَرْأَمُونَ |
| 3pl | يَرْأَمُونَ | رَأَمُوا | سَيَرْأَمُونَ |
Word family
رِئْم (riʾm)white oryx, gazelle
رَؤوم (raʾūm)tender, affectionate (mother)
أَرْأَمَ (arʾama)to make a she-camel adopt and love a young one
رَأْم (raʾm)a young animal nursed by a foster mother
مَرْؤوم (marʾūm)tenderly nursed, cherished
Etymology
رَأَم comes from the Semitic root r-ʾ-m. Across Semitic the root names a large wild bovine, seen in Hebrew rəʾēm and Akkadian rīmu, and in Arabic it gives رِئْم, the white oryx. The verb carries an Arabic sense of tender attachment, used above all for a she-camel that bonds with and suckles her calf. Classical lexicons treat this affection sense as the heart of the verb.
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