Learn Arabic › B2 › قاع
قاع
bottom (of a sea, valley, or container) /ˈqɑːʕ/
nounB2#3423 most common
Also: floor, plain, basin
Example sentences
قاع البحر عميق.
The seabed is deep.
وجدت المفتاح في قاع الحقيبة.
I found the key at the bottom of the bag.
غاص الغواص إلى قاع البحيرة ليبحث عن الغريق.
The diver dove to the bottom of the lake to search for the drowning man.
تتكون القيعان الملحية في الصحراء نتيجة تبخر المياه الموسمية.
Salt flats form in the desert as seasonal water evaporates.
تعيش بعض الكائنات في قاع المحيط حيث لا يصل ضوء الشمس.
Some organisms live on the ocean floor, where sunlight does not reach.
أظهرت الدراسة أن قاع الخليج يحتوي على رواسب نادرة من المركبات العضوية.
The study showed that the gulf floor holds rare deposits of organic compounds.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | قاعٌ | قيعانٌ |
| Genitive | قاعٍ | قيعانٍ |
| Accusative | قاعاً | قيعاناً |
| Vocative | يا قاعُ | يا قيعانُ |
Word family
قيعانplural: plains, salt flats, low grounds
قاعةhall, large room, e.g. a conference hall
قاعيbenthic, bottom-dwelling
انقاعto become stagnant, of water settling in a low place
Etymology
Qāʿ comes from the Semitic root q-w-ʿ, a native Arabic root with no known borrowing. It is a hollow-root noun: the middle radical waw stretches into the long ā you hear in the word. Classical geographers used it for a flat, low tract of ground where rain settles and stands, such as a desert salt flat, and the sense broadened to the bottom of any well, sea, or vessel.
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