Learn Arabic › B1 › شَيْخ
شَيْخ
old man /ˈʃajx/
nounB1#2709 most common
Also: sheikh (tribal or community leader), elder, Islamic religious scholar
Example sentences
هَذَا شَيْخٌ طَيِّبٌ.
This is a kind old man.
الشَّيْخُ يَجْلِسُ أَمَامَ الْبَيْتِ.
The old man sits in front of the house.
زُرْتُ الشَّيْخَ فِي قَرْيَتِهِ أَمْسِ.
I visited the sheikh in his village yesterday.
يَحْتَرِمُ أَهْلُ الْقَرْيَةِ الشَّيْخَ لِحِكْمَتِهِ.
The villagers respect the sheikh for his wisdom.
اِجْتَمَعَ شُيُوخُ الْقَبِيلَةِ لِمُنَاقَشَةِ النِّزَاعِ.
The tribe's elders gathered to discuss the dispute.
يُعَدُّ مَجْلِسُ الشُّيُوخِ الْأَمْرِيكِيُّ إِحْدَى غُرْفَتَيِ الْكُونْغْرِس.
The U.S. Senate is considered one of the two chambers of Congress.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شَيْخٌ | شُيُوخٌ |
| Genitive | شَيْخٍ | شُيُوخٍ |
| Accusative | شَيْخًا | شُيُوخًا |
| Vocative | يَا شَيْخُ | يَا شُيُوخُ |
Word family
شَيْخُوخَةold age, senescence
شَيَّخَto grow old; to make someone an elder
شَيْخَةfemale elder or sheikha
مَشْيَخَةeldership, sheikhdom, council of elders
شُيُوخelders, plural of shaykh; also used for a senate
Etymology
Shaykh comes from the Arabic triliteral root sh-y-kh, tied to the idea of growing old and gaining gray hair. From this root Arabic built a family of words about aging and seniority, and the noun shaykh came to mean both a literal old man and, by extension, anyone whose age or learning earns him authority: a tribal chief, a village head, or a religious teacher. English borrowed the word directly as sheikh in the colonial era, narrowing it mostly to the sense of a ruler or notable.
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