Learn Arabic › A2 › عَجُوز
عَجُوز
old woman /ʕaˈdʒuːz/
nounA2#855 most common
Also: elderly woman, old crone, aged man (in some classical/dialectal use)
Example sentences
العَجُوزُ نَائِمَةٌ.
The old woman is asleep.
تَسْكُنُ عَجُوزٌ وَحِيدَةٌ فِي ذٰلِكَ البَيْتِ.
A lonely old woman lives in that house.
سَاعَدْتُ عَجُوزًا عَلَى حَمْلِ أَكْيَاسِهَا.
I helped an old woman carry her bags.
رَوَتْ لَنَا العَجُوزُ حِكَايَةً قَدِيمَةً عَنْ قَرْيَتِهَا.
The old woman told us an old tale about her village.
لَمْ تَكُنْ تِلْكَ العَجُوزُ ضَعِيفَةً كَمَا ظَنَّ الجَمِيعُ، بَلْ كَانَتْ أَذْكَى مِنْهُمْ جَمِيعًا.
That old woman was not as weak as everyone thought; she was cleverer than all of them.
فِي الحِكَايَاتِ الشَّعْبِيَّةِ، تَظْهَرُ العَجُوزُ تَارَةً سَاحِرَةً مَاكِرَةً وَتَارَةً حَكِيمَةً تَهْدِي الأَبْطَالَ.
In folk tales, the old woman appears at times as a cunning witch and at times as a wise figure guiding the heroes.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | عَجُوزٌ | عَجَائِزُ |
| Genitive | عَجُوزٍ | عَجَائِزَ |
| Accusative | عَجُوزًا | عَجَائِزَ |
| Vocative | يَا عَجُوزُ | يَا عَجَائِزُ |
Word family
عَجَزَto be unable, to fail to do
عَجْزinability, helplessness, deficit
عَاجِزincapable, helpless
عَجَائِزold women (plural)
إِعْجَازmiraculous inimitability
Etymology
عَجُوز comes from the Semitic root ع-ج-ز, which carries the sense of weakness and inability. The noun follows the فَعُول pattern and names a person marked by the frailty of age, most often an old woman. The same root yields Arabic words for failure, helplessness, and the rear or hindquarters. It is not related to any Indo-European root.
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