Learn Arabic › B1 › رَصاص
رَصاص
lead (the metal) /raˈsˤaːsˤ/
nounB1#1460 most common
Also: bullets (collective), gunfire, lead shot
Example sentences
الرَّصاصُ ثَقيلٌ.
Lead is heavy.
أَكتُبُ بِقَلَمِ الرَّصاص.
I write with a pencil.
سَمِعنا صَوتَ الرَّصاصِ في اللَّيل.
We heard the sound of gunfire in the night.
أُصيبَ الجُنديُّ بِرَصاصةٍ في كَتِفِه.
The soldier was hit by a bullet in his shoulder.
يُستخدَمُ الرَّصاصُ في صِناعةِ البَطّارِيّاتِ وحِمايةِ المُفاعِلاتِ النَّوَوِيّة.
Lead is used in making batteries and in shielding nuclear reactors.
لم يَبقَ في مَخزَنِ بُندُقِيَّتِهِ سِوى رَصاصةٍ واحِدةٍ، فأطلَقَها بِدِقّةٍ مُتَناهِيةٍ نَحوَ الهَدَف.
Only one bullet remained in his rifle's magazine, so he fired it with extreme precision at the target.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | رَصاصٌ | رَصاصاتٌ |
| Genitive | رَصاصٍ | رَصاصاتٍ |
| Accusative | رَصاصاً | رَصاصاتٍ |
| Vocative | يا رَصاصُ | يا رَصاصاتُ |
Word family
رَصاصةa bullet; a single piece of lead
رَصاصِيّlead-colored, grey
قَلَم رَصاصpencil
مُرَصَّصleaded, coated with lead
Etymology
رَصاص is the Arabic word for the metal lead. It comes from the triliteral root ر-ص-ص, which carries the sense of pressing or packing things tightly together. The link points to lead's density and weight. By extension the word came to mean bullets and gunfire, since rounds were once cast from lead.
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