Learn Arabic › B1 › مَثابَة
مَثابَة
a place people keep returning to; a gathering place or resort /maˈθaː.ba/
nounB1#2458 most common
Also: tantamount to / serving as (in the set phrase بِمَثابة), haunt, rallying point
Example sentences
بَيْتي مَثابَةٌ لِأَصْدِقائي.
My house is a gathering place for my friends.
هذا المَسْجِدُ مَثابَةٌ لِلْمُصَلّينَ كُلَّ يَوْمٍ.
This mosque is a gathering place for worshippers every day.
يُعَدُّ هذا الكِتابُ بِمَثابَةِ مَرْجِعٍ أَساسِيٍّ لِلطُّلّابِ.
This book is regarded as a basic reference for students.
كانَ قَرارُ الشَّرِكَةِ بِمَثابَةِ صَدْمَةٍ لِلْمُوَظَّفينَ جَميعًا.
The company's decision was tantamount to a shock for all the employees.
وَإِذْ جَعَلْنَا الْبَيْتَ مَثابَةً لِلنّاسِ وَأَمْنًا.
And when We made the House a place of return for the people, and a sanctuary. (Quran 2:125)
ظَلَّتِ السّاحَةُ القَديمَةُ، الَّتي شَهِدَتْ أَحْداثًا مَصيرِيَّةً، مَثابَةً يَقْصِدُها النّاسُ كُلَّما اشْتَدَّتِ الأَزَماتُ.
The old square, which witnessed fateful events, remained a rallying place people head to whenever crises intensify.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَثابَةٌ | مَثاباتٌ |
| Genitive | مَثابَةٍ | مَثاباتٍ |
| Accusative | مَثابَةً | مَثاباتٍ |
| Vocative | يا مَثابَةُ | يا مَثاباتُ |
Word family
ثابَto return, come back
ثَوابreward, recompense
مَثوبةreward, recompense
بِمَثابةtantamount to, serving as, in the position of
Etymology
مَثابَة comes from the root ث و ب and the verb ثابَ, which means to return or to come back repeatedly. It is built on the مَفْعَلة pattern, a common shape for nouns of place, so it literally names a place of returning. The Quran uses it this way in 2:125, describing the Kaaba as a site the people return to again and again. Over time the phrase بِمَثابة branched off into an abstract sense: standing in the place of something, hence serving as or tantamount to.
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