Learn ArabicA1 › مَكْتَب

مَكْتَب

office /ˈmak.tab/

nounA1#302 most common

Also: desk, bureau, agency

Example sentences

هٰذَا مَكْتَبِي.
This is my office.
يَعْمَلُ أَبِي فِي مَكْتَبٍ كَبِيرٍ.
My father works in a big office.
ذَهَبْتُ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبِ مُبَكِّرًا الْيَوْمَ.
I went to the office early today.
يَقَعُ مَكْتَبُ الْمُدِيرِ فِي الطَّابِقِ الثَّالِثِ.
The manager's office is on the third floor.
تَقَدَّمْتُ بِطَلَبٍ إِلَى مَكْتَبِ الِاسْتِعْلَامَاتِ لِلْحُصُولِ عَلَى تَأْشِيرَةٍ.
I submitted a request to the information desk to obtain a visa.
مَهْمَا تَنَقَّلَ بَيْنَ الْأَقْسَامِ، ظَلَّ مَكْتَبُهُ الْقَدِيمُ رَمْزًا لِسُلْطَةٍ لَمْ يَتَخَلَّ عَنْهَا قَطُّ.
However much he moved between departments, his old office remained a symbol of an authority he never gave up.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeمَكْتَبٌمَكَاتِبُ
Genitiveمَكْتَبٍمَكَاتِبَ
Accusativeمَكْتَبًامَكَاتِبَ
Vocativeيَا مَكْتَبُيَا مَكَاتِبُ

Word family

كَتَبَto write
كِتَابbook
كَاتِبwriter, clerk
مَكْتَبةlibrary, bookshop
مَكْتُوبletter; written; fate

Etymology

The word comes from the triliteral root ك-ت-ب (k-t-b), which means to write. It follows the مَفْعَل (mafʿal) pattern, which builds nouns of place. So مَكْتَب is literally the place where one writes: a desk or an office. The same root gives كِتَاب (book) and كَاتِب (writer).

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