Learn Arabic › B2 › عَذْراء
عَذْراء
virgin /ʕaðˈraːʔ/
nounB2#4171 most common
Also: maiden, the Virgin Mary (as the title al-ʿAdhrāʾ), pristine, untouched (of land or nature)
Example sentences
هِيَ فَتَاةٌ عَذْراءُ.
She is a virgin girl.
مَريَمُ العَذْراءُ أُمُّ المَسيحِ.
The Virgin Mary is the mother of Christ.
بُرْجُ العَذْراءِ هُوَ أَحَدُ أَبْراجِ الفَلَكِ.
Virgo is one of the zodiac signs.
كانَتِ الفَتَياتُ العَذارَى يَجْتَمِعْنَ فِي المَعْبَدِ كُلَّ صَباحٍ.
The virgin girls used to gather at the temple every morning.
تَصِفُ الأَساطيرُ القَديمَةُ الغَابَةَ العَذْراءَ بِأَنَّها لَمْ تَطَأْها قَدَمٌ بَشَرِيَّةٌ.
Ancient legends describe the virgin forest as never touched by a human foot.
يَتَناوَلُ الشَّاعِرُ فِي قَصيدَتِهِ رَمْزِيَّةَ الأَرْضِ العَذْراءِ الَّتي لَمْ تَمَسَّها يَدُ الإِنْسانِ بَعْدُ.
In his poem, the poet takes up the symbolism of the untouched land that no human hand has yet reached.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | عَذْراءُ | عَذَارَى |
| Genitive | عَذْراءَ | عَذَارَى |
| Accusative | عَذْراءَ | عَذَارَى |
| Vocative | عَذْراءُ | عَذَارَى |
Word family
عُذْرَة (ʿudhrah)virginity, maidenhood
عَذَارَى (ʿadhārā)virgins (plural)
عُذْر (ʿudhr)excuse, pretext
اِعْتَذَرَ (iʿtadhara)to apologize
مَعْذِرَة (maʿdhirah)apology, pardon
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root ʿ-dh-r, which also gives ʿudhr, meaning excuse or pretext, and ʿudhrah, an old term for virginity or the hymen. Arabic lexicographers linked the two senses: virginity was treated as a bodily proof or warrant, much as an ʿudhr is a verbal warrant. ʿAdhrāʾ itself is built on the faʿlāʾ pattern, the same feminine pattern used for color and defect adjectives such as ḥamrāʾ, red, and ʿarjāʾ, lame. Because this is a Semitic root rather than an Indo-European one, no PIE root applies.
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