Learn Arabic › B1 › مَيْدان
مَيْدان
square (a large open public space) /mayˈdaːn/
nounB1#2665 most common
Also: field, ground (as in a racecourse or battlefield), arena, plaza
Example sentences
هَذا مَيْدانٌ كَبيرٌ.
This is a big square.
يَلْعَبُ الأَوْلادُ فِي المَيْدانِ.
The boys play in the square.
نَلْتَقِي فِي مَيْدانِ التَّحْرِيرِ غَداً.
We will meet in Tahrir Square tomorrow.
تَجَمَّعَ آلافُ المُتَظاهِرِينَ فِي المَيْدانِ لِلمُطالَبَةِ بِالإصْلاحِ.
Thousands of protesters gathered in the square to demand reform.
تَحَوَّلَ المَيْدانُ إلى رَمْزٍ لِلثَّوْرَةِ بَعْدَ أَنِ احْتَشَدَ فيهِ النَّاسُ لِأَسابيعَ.
The square turned into a symbol of the revolution after people had thronged it for weeks.
لَمْ يَكُنِ المَيْدانُ يَوْماً مُجَرَّدَ مُسْتَطِيلٍ مِنَ الإسْفَلْتِ، بَلْ كانَ مَسْرَحاً تَتَقاطَعُ فِيهِ مَصائِرُ النّاسِ وَتُكْتَبُ فِيهِ فُصولُ التّارِيخِ.
The square was never just a rectangle of asphalt; it was a stage where people's fates crossed and chapters of history were written.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مَيْدانٌ | مَيادينُ |
| Genitive | مَيْدانٍ | مَيادينَ |
| Accusative | مَيْدانًا | مَيادينَ |
| Vocative | يا مَيْدانُ | يا مَيادينُ |
Word family
مَيْدانِيّfield-related, on-the-ground (e.g. field research)
عَمَل مَيْدانِيّfieldwork
مَيادينsquares, arenas, fields
مَيْدان مَعْرَكَةbattlefield
مَيْدانِيّاًin the field, on the ground, practically
Etymology
Arabic lexicographers trace مَيْدان to the root m-y-d, from the verb ماد يميد, meaning to sway or move unsteadily, once used of a horse's motion on a track. On that account the noun first meant a racecourse or hippodrome, then widened to any open ground used for gathering, sport, or battle. Some scholars instead treat it as a loanword from Persian میدان (meydān), meaning open ground, which entered Arabic through long contact with Persian-speaking lands. Either derivation points to the same core sense: a level open space built for crowds and movement.
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