Learn Arabic › B2 › شُرْفَة
شُرْفَة
balcony /ˈʃur.fa/
nounB2#3542 most common
Also: terrace ledge, merlon (a raised section of a battlement)
Example sentences
في البيت شُرْفَة صغيرة.
The house has a small balcony.
أشرب القهوة في الشُرْفَة كل صباح.
I drink coffee on the balcony every morning.
تطل الشُرْفَة على الحديقة.
The balcony overlooks the garden.
زرعت أمي الورود على شُرْفَة المنزل.
My mother planted roses on the balcony of the house.
وقفت على الشُرْفَة تتأمل غروب الشمس بصمت.
She stood on the balcony watching the sunset in silence.
كانت الشُرُفات المطلة على البحر مكتظة بالسياح الذين جاءوا لمشاهدة المهرجان.
The balconies overlooking the sea were packed with tourists who had come to watch the festival.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | شُرْفَةٌ | شُرَفٌ |
| Genitive | شُرْفَةٍ | شُرَفٍ |
| Accusative | شُرْفَةً | شُرَفًا |
| Vocative | يا شُرْفَةُ | يا شُرَفُ |
Word family
شَرَفhonor, nobility
شريفnoble, honorable
مُشْرِفsupervisor, overseer
أشرفto oversee, to look down from a height
إشرافsupervision, oversight
Etymology
شُرْفَة comes from the Arabic root ش ر ف, which carries the core idea of height and prominence. The same root gives شَرَف (honor, standing) and أشرف (to look down from above), since in Arabic thought social rank and physical elevation are tied together. شُرْفَة names the elevated, projecting part of a building, first the raised battlement of a fortress wall, later the balcony of an ordinary house. This is an internal Semitic derivation, not a borrowing.
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