Learn Arabic › B2 › شَفْرَة
شَفْرَة
blade /ˈʃaf.ra/
nounB2#3133 most common
Also: code, cipher, edge
Example sentences
هذه شَفْرَةٌ حادة.
This is a sharp blade.
اشتريتُ شَفْرَة حلاقة جديدة.
I bought a new razor blade.
يجب تغيير شَفْرَة الحلاقة بعد كل استخدام.
You should change the razor blade after every use.
تحتوي كل خلية على شَفْرَة وراثية فريدة.
Every cell contains a unique genetic code.
تمكن الخبراء من فك شَفْرَة الرسالة السرية خلال ساعات.
Experts managed to crack the secret message's cipher within hours.
على الرغم من دقتها المتناهية، لا تزال شَفْرَة الحلاقة القديمة تُستخدم في بعض الطقوس التقليدية للحلاقة اليدوية.
Despite its extreme fineness, the old-style razor blade is still used in some traditional hand-shaving rituals.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شَفْرَةٌ | شَفَرَاتٌ |
| Genitive | شَفْرَةٍ | شَفَرَاتٍ |
| Accusative | شَفْرَةً | شَفَرَاتٍ |
| Vocative | يا شَفْرَةُ | يا شَفَرَاتُ |
Word family
شفيرedge, brink, verge
مِشْفَرlip or jowl of a camel
شَفَّرَto encrypt, to encode
تَشْفِيرencryption, encoding
شِفْرِيّrelating to a code or cipher
Etymology
شَفْرَة comes from the Arabic root ش-ف-ر, which carries the core idea of an edge or a rim. The same root gives شفير, meaning a brink or verge, and the word for the edge of an eyelid. From this sense of a fine border, شفرة first meant the sharp edge of a blade, and later extended to mean a code or cipher, since a cipher marks the line between hidden and revealed meaning. Arabic is a Semitic language, so this word has no Indo-European root.
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