Learn Arabic › B1 › عَقَب
عَقَب
to follow, come after; to succeed (someone in a position) /ʕaˈqaba/
verbB1#2660 most common
Also: to succeed someone in office, to come next in sequence
Example sentences
النَّهَارُ يَعْقُبُ اللَّيْلَ.
Day follows night.
عَقَبَ الشِّتَاءُ الخَرِيفَ هَذَا العَامَ.
Winter followed autumn this year.
عَقَبَ الابْنُ أَبَاهُ فِي إِدَارَةِ المَتْجَرِ.
The son succeeded his father in managing the store.
عَقَبَتِ الأَزْمَةُ الاقْتِصَادِيَّةُ الحَرْبَ مُبَاشَرَةً.
The economic crisis followed the war directly.
عَقَبَ الرَّئِيسُ الجَدِيدُ سَلَفَهُ فِي مَنْصِبِهِ وَسْطَ تَرَقُّبٍ شَعْبِيٍّ وَاسِعٍ.
The new president succeeded his predecessor in office amid widespread public anticipation.
لَمْ يَكُنِ الهُدُوءُ الَّذِي عَقَبَ العَاصِفَةَ لِيَخْدَعَ أَحَدًا مِمَّنْ عَاشُوا الكَارِثَةَ.
The calm that followed the storm did not fool anyone who had lived through the disaster.
Conjugation
| Present Active | Simple Past Active | Simple Future Active | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1sg | أَعْقُبُ | عَقَبْتُ | سَأَعْقُبُ |
| 2sg | تَعْقُبُ | عَقَبْتَ | سَتَعْقُبُ |
| 3sg | يَعْقُبُ | عَقَبَ | سَيَعْقُبُ |
| 1pl | نَعْقُبُ | عَقَبْنَا | سَنَعْقُبُ |
| 2pl | تَعْقُبُونَ | عَقَبْتُمْ | سَتَعْقُبُونَ |
| 3pl | يَعْقُبُونَ | عَقَبُوا | سَيَعْقُبُونَ |
Word family
عَقِبheel; aftermath
عَاقِبَةconsequence, outcome
تَعَاقَبَto succeed one another, alternate
عَقَّبَto comment on, follow up on
مُعَقِّبcommentator, one who adds a follow-up remark
Etymology
The verb comes from the triliteral Semitic root ʿ-q-b, whose core image is the heel. To 'ʿaqaba' someone is to come right behind them, at their heel, and so to follow or take their place. This same root gives Hebrew its word for heel and the name Jacob, who was said to have gripped his twin brother's heel at birth. The sense of 'following so closely that you replace someone' runs through both languages.
Learn Arabic the way that sticks.
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free
Every word here is a full Polylex card with native audio and spaced repetition, so 4,080 words actually move into long-term memory.
Start free