Learn Arabic › B1 › صَحْراء
صَحْراء
desert /sˤaħˈrɑːʔ/
nounB1#2374 most common
Also: wilderness, wasteland
Example sentences
هذِهِ صَحْراء.
This is a desert.
الصَّحْراء حارَّةٌ جِدًّا.
The desert is very hot.
سافَرْنا عَبْرَ الصَّحْراء لِمُدَّةِ ثَلاثَةِ أَيّام.
We traveled across the desert for three days.
تَعيشُ بَعضُ الحَيَواناتِ في الصَّحْراء رَغْمَ قِلَّةِ الماء.
Some animals live in the desert despite the scarcity of water.
تُعاني الصَّحراءُ الكُبرى مِن نُدرَةِ الأمطارِ طَوالَ العام.
The Sahara suffers from a scarcity of rain throughout the year.
يُحاوِلُ العُلَماءُ فَهْمَ كَيفَ تَتَمَدَّدُ الصَّحارى بِسَبَبِ التَّغَيُّرِ المُناخِيِّ.
Scientists are trying to understand how the deserts are expanding because of climate change.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | صَحْراءُ | صَحارَى |
| Genitive | صَحْراءَ | صَحارَى |
| Accusative | صَحْراءَ | صَحارَى |
| Vocative | صَحْراءُ | صَحارَى |
Word family
أَصْحَرdust-colored, reddish-brown (masculine)
صَحْراوِيّdesert-related, Saharan
تَصَحُّرdesertification
الصَّحْراء الكُبرىthe Sahara (literally: the Great Desert)
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root ص-ح-ر, tied to a dusty, reddish-brown color. It takes the شfeminine faʿlāʼ pattern used for color and quality adjectives, the same pattern seen in حَمْراء (red, feminine). Over time the adjective became a noun in its own right, naming the land itself rather than describing its color. It is not related to any Indo-European root.
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