Learn Arabic › B2 › لِواء
لِواء
banner, standard /liˈwaːʔ/
nounB2#3581 most common
Also: major general (military rank), province, district (administrative division)
Example sentences
رَفَعَ الجُنودُ اللِّواءَ فَوقَ القَلعَةِ.
The soldiers raised the banner above the fortress.
اللِّواءُ الأَحمَرُ يُرفَعُ في الأَعيادِ.
The red banner is raised on festival days.
أَصبَحَ أَخي لِواءً في الجَيشِ بَعدَ سَنَواتٍ مِنَ الخِدمَةِ.
My brother became a major general in the army after years of service.
يَنقَسِمُ الأُردُنُّ إِداريًّا إِلى عِدَّةِ أَلوِيَةٍ ومُحافَظاتٍ.
Jordan is administratively divided into several districts (liwas) and governorates.
حَمَلَ الفُرسانُ لِواءَ القَبيلَةِ في المَعرَكَةِ دِفاعًا عَن شَرَفِها.
The horsemen carried the tribe's banner into battle in defense of its honor.
ظَلَّ اللِّواءُ خافِقًا فَوقَ الحِصنِ رَغمَ عَواصِفِ الحَربِ، رَمزًا لِصُمودٍ لَم تَنَلْ مِنهُ الأَيّامُ.
The banner kept flying over the fortress despite the storms of war, a symbol of a steadfastness the days could not wear down.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | لِواءٌ | أَلْوِيَةٌ |
| Genitive | لِواءٍ | أَلْوِيَةٍ |
| Accusative | لِواءً | أَلْوِيَةً |
| Vocative | يا لِواءُ | يا أَلْوِيَةُ |
Word family
لَوىto twist, bend
اِلْتِواءtwist, sprain
مُلْتَوٍtwisted, crooked
حامِل اللِّواءstandard-bearer, flag-bearer
Etymology
Liwāʾ comes from the Arabic root ل-و-ي (l-w-y), meaning to twist or wind. The noun pattern fiʿāl turns this into a winding, a name that fits a flag once wound around its staff before being unfurled in battle. Armies rallied around a single such standard, and from that image the word later extended to a general who commands under one banner and to a district grouped under one authority. Arabic is a Semitic language and English is Indo-European, so the two have no common ancestor and no shared PIE root.
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