Learn Arabic › B2 › رَقِيق
رَقِيق
delicate, thin /raˈqiːq/
adjectiveB2#3109 most common
Also: tender, soft, gentle (of feeling or voice)
Example sentences
هذا القماشُ رقيقٌ.
This fabric is thin.
صوتُها رقيقٌ وجميل.
Her voice is soft and beautiful.
قلبُه رقيقٌ جدًا مع الأطفال.
His heart is very tender with children.
اشتريتُ ثوبًا رقيقًا لفصل الصيف.
I bought a thin garment for summer.
كانت يداها رقيقتين كأنهما من حرير.
Her hands were as delicate as if made of silk.
رغم قسوة الحرب، ظلّ إحساسه رقيقًا تجاه ضحايا النزاع، وهو ما انعكس في رواياته اللاحقة.
Despite the war's cruelty, his feeling stayed tender toward the conflict's victims, and this showed in his later novels.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | رَقِيقٌ | رِقَاقٌ |
| Genitive | رَقِيقٍ | رِقَاقٍ |
| Accusative | رَقِيقًا | رِقَاقًا |
| Vocative | يا رَقِيقُ | يا رِقَاقُ |
Word family
رِقّة (riqqah)tenderness, delicacy
ترقيق (tarqīq)the act of thinning or refining
أرقّ (arraqqa)to make thin, to soften
رقيق (raqīq, noun sense)a slave (historical/legal term, same root)
أرقّ (arraqq, elative)thinner, more delicate
Etymology
رقيق comes from the Semitic root ر-ق-ق (r-q-q), which carries the core sense of thinness or fineness. Classical Arabic built the adjective on the فعيل (faʿīl) pattern, a common shape for words describing a lasting quality, here 'thinness' extended to 'delicacy' or 'tenderness' of voice, skin, or feeling. The same root also gave رقّ (a thin parchment or sheet) and, separately, the noun رقيق for a slave, a sense thought to stem from an old association between thinness or weakness and lack of standing.
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