Learn Arabic › B2 › غُراب

غُراب

crow /ɣuˈraːb/

nounB2#4280 most common

Also: raven

Example sentences

هذا غرابٌ أسود.

This is a black crow.

رأيتُ غراباً على الشجرة.

I saw a crow on the tree.

يطير الغرابُ فوق الحقل بحثاً عن الطعام.

The crow flies over the field searching for food.

تجمعت الغِربان حول المزرعة عند الفجر.

The crows gathered around the farm at dawn.

يُقال إن صوت الغراب ينذر بالشؤم في بعض الثقافات.

It is said that a crow's call portends misfortune in some cultures.

علّم اللهُ قابيلَ، بواسطة غرابٍ يحفر في الأرض، كيف يواري سوءة أخيه.

Through a crow digging in the earth, God taught Cain how to bury his brother's corpse.

Declension

Case	Singular	Plural
Nominative	غُرَابٌ	غِرْبَانٌ
Genitive	غُرَابٍ	غِرْبَانٍ
Accusative	غُرَاباً	غِرْبَاناً
Vocative	يَا غُرَابُ	يَا غِرْبَانُ

Word family

غِرْبَان (ghirbān)crows (plural)

غَرْب (gharb)west

غُرُوب (ghurūb)sunset

غَرِيب (gharīb)strange; stranger, foreigner

اِغْتِرَاب (ightirāb)estrangement, living abroad

Etymology

Ghurāb comes from the Arabic root gh-r-b, the same root behind gharb (west) and ghurūb (sunset). Classical lexicographers linked the bird's name to this root because of its black color, dark like the fading light at sunset, and because its cry was long taken as an omen of departure or separation. The same consonant root names the crow across other Semitic languages, which suggests the link is old rather than a coinage unique to Arabic.

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