Learn Arabic › B1 › مَكْتَبَة
مَكْتَبَة
library /makˈta.ba/
nounB1#1996 most common
Also: bookshop, bookstore, study/collection of books
Example sentences
هٰذِهِ مَكْتَبَة.
This is a library.
أَذْهَبُ إِلَى الْمَكْتَبَة.
I go to the library.
فِي الْمَدْرَسَةِ مَكْتَبَةٌ كَبِيرَة.
There is a big library in the school.
اِسْتَعَرْتُ كِتَابَيْنِ مِنَ الْمَكْتَبَة.
I borrowed two books from the library.
تَحْتَوِي الْمَكْتَبَةُ الْوَطَنِيَّةُ عَلَى مَخْطُوطَاتٍ نَادِرَة.
The national library holds rare manuscripts.
لَوْلَا الْمَكْتَبَةُ الَّتِي رَعَتْ فُضُولَهُ لَمَا أَصْبَحَ ذٰلِكَ الْبَاحِثُ الْعَلَّامَة.
Had it not been for the library that nourished his curiosity, that researcher would never have become the great scholar.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَكْتَبَةٌ | مَكْتَبَاتٌ |
| Genitive | مَكْتَبَةٍ | مَكْتَبَاتٍ |
| Accusative | مَكْتَبَةً | مَكْتَبَاتٍ |
| Vocative | يَا مَكْتَبَةُ | يَا مَكْتَبَاتُ |
Word family
Etymology
The word comes from the Semitic root k-t-b, which carries the idea of writing. It uses the maf'ala pattern, which in Arabic marks a place where an action happens. So a maktaba is literally a place of writing and books, that is, a library. The same root gives kitāb (book) and kātib (writer).
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