Learn Arabic › B2 › زُقاق
زُقاق
alley, narrow lane /zʊˈqɑːq/
nounB2#3748 most common
Also: cul-de-sac, narrow street, passage between buildings
Example sentences
هٰذا زُقاقٌ ضَيِّقٌ.
This is a narrow alley.
بَيْتُنا في آخِرِ الزُّقاقِ.
Our house is at the end of the alley.
لَعِبَ الأَطْفالُ في الزُّقاقِ حَتَّى المَساءِ.
The children played in the alley until evening.
تَتَفَرَّعُ أَزِقَّةٌ ضَيِّقَةٌ عَنِ الشّارِعِ الرَّئيسِيِّ في المَدينَةِ القَديمَةِ.
Narrow alleys branch off from the main street in the old city.
كانَتْ رائِحَةُ الخُبْزِ تَفوحُ مِنْ نَوافِذِ البُيوتِ المُطِلَّةِ عَلى الزُّقاقِ المُظْلِمِ.
The smell of bread wafted from the windows of the houses overlooking the dark alley.
تاهَتْ خُطاهُ بَيْنَ أَزِقَّةِ الحَيِّ القَديمِ المُتَشابِكَةِ الَّتي لا تَعْرِفُ نِظامًا وَلا اسْتِقامَةً.
His steps wandered among the tangled alleys of the old quarter, which knew neither order nor straight lines.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | زُقاقٌ | أَزِقَّةٌ |
| Genitive | زُقاقٍ | أَزِقَّةٍ |
| Accusative | زُقاقًا | أَزِقَّةً |
| Vocative | يا زُقاقُ | يا أَزِقَّةُ |
Word family
زُقاقalley, narrow lane
أَزِقَّةalleys (plural)
زُقاق مَسْدودdead-end alley, cul-de-sac
زُقاقِيّalley-like, of or relating to a narrow lane
Etymology
Zuqāq comes from the Semitic root z-q-q, tied to the idea of narrowness or a tight passage. Classical Arabic dictionaries describe it as a lane hemmed in by buildings on both sides, sometimes open at both ends and sometimes closed. The word appears throughout classical and modern Arabic literature to name the winding backstreets of old Arab cities, most famously in Naguib Mahfouz's novel Zuqaq al-Midaq (Midaq Alley), set in old Cairo.
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