Learn Arabic › B1 › رَصِيف
رَصِيف
sidewalk (pavement) /rɑˈsˤiːf/
nounB1#2890 most common
Also: platform (train/station), quay, wharf
Example sentences
الطِّفْلُ يَمْشِي عَلَى الرَّصِيفِ.
The child walks on the sidewalk.
انْتَظَرْتُ صَدِيقِي عِنْدَ الرَّصِيفِ.
I waited for my friend at the sidewalk.
وَقَفَ الرَّجُلُ عَلَى رَصِيفِ الْمَحَطَّةِ يَنْتَظِرُ الْقِطَارَ.
The man stood on the station platform waiting for the train.
امْتَلَأَ رَصِيفُ الْمِينَاءِ بِالْحَاوِيَاتِ اسْتِعْدَادًا لِلشَّحْنِ.
The port's quay filled up with containers ready for shipping.
تَعَثَّرَتِ الْمَرْأَةُ الْمُسِنَّةُ بِسَبَبِ حَجَرٍ بَارِزٍ فِي الرَّصِيفِ الْمُتَصَدِّعِ.
The elderly woman stumbled over a jutting stone in the cracked sidewalk.
أَعَادَتِ الْبَلَدِيَّةُ تَبْلِيطَ الْأَرْصِفَةِ عَلَى طُولِ الشَّارِعِ الرَّئِيسِيِّ لِتَحْسِينِ سَلَامَةِ الْمُشَاةِ.
The municipality repaved the sidewalks along the main street to improve pedestrian safety.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | رَصِيفٌ | أَرْصِفَةٌ |
| Genitive | رَصِيفٍ | أَرْصِفَةٍ |
| Accusative | رَصِيفًا | أَرْصِفَةً |
| Vocative | يَا رَصِيفُ | يَا أَرْصِفَةُ |
Word family
رَصَفَto pave, to arrange stones in a row
رَصْفthe act of paving or laying in rows
تَرْصِيفpaving, tiling
تَرَاصُفalignment, coherence
أَرْصِفَةsidewalks, platforms (plural)
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic root r-ṣ-f, tied to the verb raṣafa, meaning to pave or to lay stones in a tight, even row. Rasif takes the fa'il pattern, which often names the result of an action, so it denotes a paved strip, the walkway or platform built up along a street, station, or dock. The same root gives Modern Standard Arabic words for paving and orderly arrangement. Hebrew has a parallel root with the same sense of paving a floor, pointing to a shared Semitic origin rather than an Indo-European one.
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