Learn Arabic › A2 › سَرَطان
سَرَطان
cancer (the disease) /sa.ra.ˈtˤaːn/
nounA2#1387 most common
Also: crab, Cancer (the zodiac sign)
Example sentences
السَرَطانُ مَرَضٌ خَطير.
Cancer is a dangerous disease.
أُصيبَ جارُنا بِالسَرَطان.
Our neighbor got cancer.
رَأَيتُ سَرَطاناً صَغيراً على الشاطِئ.
I saw a small crab on the beach.
بُرْجُها هو السَرَطان لِأَنَّها وُلِدَت في تَمّوز.
Her zodiac sign is Cancer because she was born in July.
أَعلَنَت وِزارَةُ الصِحَّةِ عَن حَملَةٍ جَديدَةٍ لِلكَشفِ المُبَكِّرِ عَنِ السَرَطان.
The Ministry of Health announced a new campaign for the early detection of cancer.
لَولا التَّشخيصُ المُبَكِّرُ لَتَفاقَمَ السَرَطانُ وانتَشَرَ في سائِرِ أَعضاءِ الجِسم.
Had it not been for the early diagnosis, the cancer would have worsened and spread to the rest of the body's organs.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | سَرَطانٌ | سَرَطاناتٌ |
| Genitive | سَرَطانٍ | سَرَطاناتٍ |
| Accusative | سَرَطاناً | سَرَطاناتٍ |
| Vocative | يا سَرَطانُ | يا سَرَطاناتُ |
Word family
سَرَطانيّ (saraṭānī)cancerous; crab-related
مُسَرطِن (musarṭin)carcinogenic, cancer-causing
سَرْطَنة (sarṭana)carcinogenesis, turning cancerous
سَرَطان البَحر (saraṭān al-baḥr)sea crab
Etymology
سَرَطان first names the crab. The disease took the same name because a tumor with its spreading veins was thought to look like a crab's legs. The same image lies behind Greek karkinos and Latin cancer, though those words are not related to the Arabic one. The triliteral root س-ر-ط carries a sense of swallowing or gulping down.
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