Learn Arabic › A1 › عَمِيل
عَمِيل
client /ʕaˈmiːl/
nounA1#415 most common
Also: customer, agent (secret operative), collaborator (with an enemy)
Example sentences
هٰذا عَميلٌ جَديد.
This is a new client.
العَميلُ يَنتَظِرُ في البَنك.
The customer is waiting at the bank.
يَجِبُ أن نُعامِلَ كُلَّ عَميلٍ بِاحْتِرام.
We must treat every client with respect.
اِتَّهَمَتهُ الصُّحُفُ بِأنَّهُ عَميلٌ لِدَولةٍ أجنَبِيّة.
The newspapers accused him of being an agent for a foreign state.
كَشَفَتِ المُخابَراتُ شَبَكةً مِنَ العُمَلاءِ تَعمَلُ لِصالِحِ العَدُوّ.
Intelligence uncovered a network of agents working for the enemy.
قَلَّما يُفَرِّقُ الناسُ بَينَ العَميلِ الَّذي يَخونُ بَلَدَهُ وَالعَميلِ الَّذي لا يَعدو أن يَكونَ زَبونًا في مَتجَر.
People rarely distinguish between the agent who betrays his country and the client who is no more than a customer in a shop.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | عَمِيلٌ | عُمَلاءُ |
| Genitive | عَمِيلٍ | عُمَلاءَ |
| Accusative | عَمِيلاً | عُمَلاءَ |
| Vocative | يا عَمِيلُ | يا عُمَلاءُ |
Word family
عَمِلَto do, to work
عَمَلwork, deedعامِلworker, laborerمُعامَلةtransaction, dealing
عَمِيلةfemale client or agent
Etymology
عَميل comes from the Semitic root ع-م-ل, which carries the idea of work, labor, and dealing. The فَعِيل pattern names a person engaged in dealings, so the word covers both a client who transacts and an agent who acts for another party. The political sense of a traitor or foreign stooge grew from the same idea of someone working on behalf of an outside power.
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