Learn Arabic › B2 › مَعْدِن
مَعْدِن
metal /ˈmaʕ.din/
nounB2#4103 most common
Also: mineral, ore, innate character (figurative)
Example sentences
الحَدِيدُ مَعْدِنٌ.
Iron is a metal.
هَذَا الخَاتَمُ مَصْنُوعٌ مِنْ مَعْدِنٍ ثَمِينٍ.
This ring is made of a precious metal.
أَحِبُّ دِرَاسَةَ المَعَادِنِ فِي المَدْرَسَةِ.
I like studying minerals at school.
تَحْتَوِي هَذِهِ الصَّخْرَةُ عَلَى مَعْدِنٍ نَادِرٍ.
This rock contains a rare mineral.
يُعَدُّ الأُورَانِيُومُ مَعْدِنًا اسْتِرَاتِيجِيًّا فِي الصِّنَاعَةِ النَّوَوِيَّةِ.
Uranium is considered a strategic mineral in the nuclear industry.
هُوَ مَعْدِنٌ أَصِيلٌ لَا يَتَغَيَّرُ بِتَقَلُّبِ الأَحْوَالِ.
He is of genuine character, one that does not change with shifting circumstances.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَعْدِنٌ | مَعَادِنُ |
| Genitive | مَعْدِنٍ | مَعَادِنَ |
| Accusative | مَعْدِناً | مَعَادِنَ |
| Vocative | يَا مَعْدِنُ | يَا مَعَادِنُ |
Word family
مَعَادِنmetals, minerals (plural)
مَعْدِنِيّmetallic, mineralتَعْدِينmining
عَدَنَto settle, dwell permanently
مُنَقِّب عَنِ المَعَادِنmineral prospector, miner
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root ع-د-ن ('-d-n), which carries the sense of settling, dwelling, or staying fixed in one place. Classical Arabic lexicographers linked مَعْدِن to this root because ore and minerals were seen as fixed and embedded permanently within the earth, unlike materials that move or decay. The same root gives Arabic عدن as in جنة عدن, the Garden of Eden, literally the garden of the permanent abode. There is no Indo-European origin, since Arabic is a Semitic language.
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