Learn ArabicA2 › قاعِدَة

قاعِدَة

rule /ˈqaːʕida/

nounA2#878 most common

Also: base, foundation, principle

Example sentences

هٰذِهِ قاعِدَة مُهِمَّة.
This is an important rule.
لِكُلِّ لُعْبَةٍ قاعِدَة.
Every game has a rule.
يَجِبُ أَنْ نَتَعَلَّمَ قَواعِدَ اللُّغَةِ العَرَبِيَّة.
We must learn the rules of the Arabic language.
خالَفَ اللّاعِبُ قاعِدَةً أَساسِيَّةً فَطُرِدَ مِنَ المَلْعَب.
The player broke a basic rule and was sent off the field.
تَقومُ هٰذِهِ النَّظَرِيَّةُ على قاعِدَةٍ مَنطِقِيَّةٍ راسِخَة.
This theory rests on a firm logical basis.
لا تَخْلو قاعِدَةٌ مِنِ اسْتِثْناء، لٰكِنَّ الاسْتِثْناءَ لا يَنْقُضُ القاعِدَةَ نَفْسَها.
No rule is without an exception, but the exception does not nullify the rule itself.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeقاعِدَةٌقَواعِدُ
Genitiveقاعِدَةٍقَواعِدَ
Accusativeقاعِدَةًقَواعِدَ
Vocativeيا قاعِدَةُيا قَواعِدُ

Word family

قَواعِدrules, foundations (plural)
قَعَدَto sit
مَقْعَدseat
قاعِديّbasic, basal

Etymology

The word comes from the Arabic triliteral root ق ع د (q-ʿ-d), meaning to sit or to stay seated. قاعِدَة is the feminine active participle of قَعَدَ, so it first meant the thing that sits or stays in place. From there it came to mean a base or foundation, and by extension a rule or principle on which something rests. The definite form al-Qāʿida, the base, later became the name of a militant group.

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