Learn ArabicB1 › قَبْو

قَبْو

cellar /ˈqabw/

nounB1#2002 most common

Also: basement, vault, crypt

Example sentences

البيت له قَبْو.
The house has a cellar.
نزلنا إلى القَبْو.
We went down to the cellar.
يحفظ جدي النبيذ في القَبْو.
My grandfather keeps the wine in the cellar.
كان القَبْو مظلماً وبارداً في الشتاء.
The cellar was dark and cold in winter.
اختبأت العائلة في القَبْو أثناء القصف.
The family hid in the cellar during the shelling.
حوّلوا القَبْو القديم تحت الكنيسة إلى متحف صغير يضم أقبية أثرية.
They turned the old vault beneath the church into a small museum containing archaeological cellars.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeقَبْوٌأَقْبِيَةٌ
Genitiveقَبْوٍأَقْبِيَةٍ
Accusativeقَبْواًأَقْبِيَةً
Vocativeيا قَبْوُيا أَقْبِيَةُ

Word family

أَقْبِيَةcellars, vaults (plural)
قُبَّةdome, cupola
قَبَاto vault, to arch

Etymology

The word derives from the Arabic root ق-ب-و, tied to the idea of arching or vaulting. A قَبْو is a covered, arched space, so the sense of an underground vault or cellar follows from its curved roof. The term spread through the Mediterranean for masonry vaults.

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

More Arabic words

مَكْتَبَةlibraryمُؤَسَّسَةinstitutionمُرْتاحrelaxedأَحْسَنbestمَقالarticleكارَىto hire out, to rent to (someone)مُرِيحcomfortableأَعْلَنto announce