Learn Arabic › B2 › عَرِيف
عَرِيف
knowledgeable, expert /ʕaˈriːf/
adjectiveB2#3575 most common
Also: corporal or sergeant (military rank), class monitor (school), foreman
Example sentences
هذا عَرِيفٌ.
This is a corporal.
أخي عَرِيفٌ في الجيش.
My brother is a corporal in the army.
اختارت المعلمة عَرِيفَ الفصل هذا الأسبوع.
The teacher picked the class monitor this week.
تمت ترقية العَرِيفِ إلى رتبة أعلى بعد سنوات من الخدمة.
The corporal was promoted to a higher rank after years of service.
كان الدليل عَرِيفًا بأحوال الصحراء ودروبها الخفية.
The guide was well versed in the desert's conditions and its hidden paths.
يُطلب من العَرِيفِ الإشراف على تدريب الجنود الجدد داخل الكتيبة.
The corporal is required to oversee the training of new soldiers within the battalion.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | عَرِيفٌ | عُرَفَاءُ |
| Genitive | عَرِيفٍ | عُرَفَاءَ |
| Accusative | عَرِيفًا | عُرَفَاءَ |
| Vocative | يَا عَرِيفُ | يَا عُرَفَاءُ |
Word family
عارفknowing, aware, gnostic
معرفةknowledge, acquaintance
عرّافfortune-teller, diviner
تعريفdefinition, introduction
عُرْفcustom, convention
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root ع ر ف (ʿ-r-f), meaning to know or recognize. From this root Arabic also derives معرفة (knowledge) and عارف (one who knows). عريف follows the faʿīl pattern, which often marks an intensive quality or a person defined by that quality, so it originally meant one who knows well, an expert or connoisseur. That sense of expertise later narrowed into a title for someone put in charge because of their experience, giving the modern meanings of corporal and class monitor.
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