Learn Arabic › A2 › شَبَح
شَبَح
ghost /ˈʃa.baħ/
nounA2#1088 most common
Also: specter, phantom, apparition, dim figure, silhouette
Example sentences
رَأَيْتُ شَبَحاً.
I saw a ghost.
هَل تُؤْمِنُ بِالأَشْبَاحِ؟
Do you believe in ghosts?
يَقُولُونَ إِنَّ شَبَحاً يَسْكُنُ هٰذَا البَيْتَ القَدِيمَ.
They say a ghost lives in this old house.
فِي الظَّلَامِ، بَدَا لِي شَبَحُ رَجُلٍ يَقِفُ عِنْدَ النَّافِذَةِ.
In the dark, the figure of a man appeared to me, standing by the window.
لَا يَزَالُ شَبَحُ الحَرْبِ يُخَيِّمُ عَلَى المِنْطَقَةِ بَعْدَ عَشْرِ سَنَوَاتٍ.
The specter of war still hangs over the region ten years later.
تَرَاءَتْ أَشْبَاحُ المَاضِي أَمَامَهُ كُلَّمَا حَاوَلَ أَنْ يَنْسَى مَا اقْتَرَفَهُ.
The ghosts of the past appeared before him whenever he tried to forget what he had done.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شَبَحٌ | أَشْبَاحٌ |
| Genitive | شَبَحٍ | أَشْبَاحٍ |
| Accusative | شَبَحاً | أَشْبَاحاً |
| Vocative | يا شَبَحُ | يا أَشْبَاحُ |
Word family
أَشْبَاحghosts (plural)
شَبَحِيّghostly, spectral
شَبَّحَto stretch out, spread-eagle
شَبِيحregime thug, militiaman (colloquial)
Etymology
The word comes from the triliteral root ش-ب-ح, which carries the sense of a shape that looms into view or appears indistinctly. From a vague figure seen at a distance it extended to mean apparition or ghost. The figurative use, the specter of some feared thing, is common in modern journalism.
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