Learn Arabic › B1 › طَبَقَة
طَبَقَة
layer /ˈtˤɑ.bɑ.qɑh/
nounB1#2388 most common
Also: floor/story (of a building), social class, stratum
Example sentences
البَيْتُ لَهُ طَبَقَةٌ وَاحِدَةٌ.
The house has one floor.
أَسْكُنُ فِي الطَّبَقَةِ الثَّانِيَةِ.
I live on the second floor.
هُنَاكَ طَبَقَةٌ سَمِيكَةٌ مِنَ الثَّلْجِ عَلَى الجَبَلِ.
There is a thick layer of snow on the mountain.
تَنْتَمِي هَذِهِ العَائِلَةُ إِلَى الطَّبَقَةِ الوُسْطَى.
This family belongs to the middle class.
يَدْرُسُ العَالِمُ طَبَقَاتِ الأَرْضِ المُخْتَلِفَةَ.
The scientist studies the different layers of the earth.
أَدَّى اتِّسَاعُ الفَجْوَةِ بَيْنَ الطَّبَقَاتِ الاجْتِمَاعِيَّةِ إِلَى تَوَتُّرٍ سِيَاسِيٍّ.
The widening gap between social classes led to political tension.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | طَبَقَةٌ | طَبَقَاتٌ |
| Genitive | طَبَقَةٍ | طَبَقَاتٍ |
| Accusative | طَبَقَةً | طَبَقَاتٍ |
| Vocative | يَا طَبَقَةُ | يَا طَبَقَاتُ |
Word family
طَابَقfloor, story of a building
طِبَاقantithesis; correspondence
تَطَابَقَto correspond, coincide, match
مُطَابِقcorresponding, matching
طَبَقِيّclass-based, relating to social class
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic root ط-ب-ق, which carries the sense of covering, fitting, or corresponding layer upon layer. From this root Arabic built a family of words about things that stack or match, including the verb for lids fitting covers and terms for matching and correspondence. Over time طَبَقَة settled into concrete uses: a layer of material, a floor of a building, and by extension a stratum of society. This is a native Semitic root, not one with a traceable Indo-European ancestor.
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