Learn Arabic › A2 › مَسافَة
مَسافَة
distance /maˈsaːfa/
nounA2#1175 most common
Also: space, interval, stretch
Example sentences
المَسافة قصيرة.
The distance is short.
كم المَسافة إلى المطار؟
What is the distance to the airport?
مشينا مَسافة طويلة اليوم.
We walked a long distance today.
هناك مَسافة كبيرة بين رأيينا.
There is a big distance between our two opinions.
حافِظ على مَسافة كافية عن السيارة التي أمامك.
Keep a sufficient distance from the car in front of you.
قطع العَدّاؤون مَسافة الماراثون كاملةً رغم الحرّ الشديد.
The runners covered the entire marathon distance despite the intense heat.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَسافَةٌ | مَسافاتٌ |
| Genitive | مَسافَةٍ | مَسافاتٍ |
| Accusative | مَسافَةً | مَسافاتٍ |
| Vocative | يا مَسافَةُ | يا مَسافاتُ |
Word family
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic root s-w-f, whose verb means to smell or sniff. Classical lexicographers tie it to the desert guide who judged how far a party had traveled by smelling the soil. The noun of place masāfa first named the stretch a tracker could read by scent, then broadened to plain distance.
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