Learn Arabic › B2 › مِدْفَع
مِدْفَع
cannon /ˈmid.faʕ/
nounB2#4147 most common
Also: artillery gun, gun (large-caliber)
Example sentences
هَذَا مِدْفَعٌ كَبِيرٌ.
This is a big cannon.
رَأَيْتُ مِدْفَعًا فِي الْمَتْحَفِ.
I saw a cannon in the museum.
أَطْلَقَ الْجُنُودُ النَّارَ مِنَ الْمِدْفَعِ.
The soldiers fired from the cannon.
يُطْلَقُ مِدْفَعُ رَمَضَانَ عِنْدَ أَذَانِ الْمَغْرِبِ.
The Ramadan cannon is fired at the sunset call to prayer.
نَصَبَ الْجَيْشُ مَدَافِعَهُ عَلَى التَّلِّ الْمُطِلِّ عَلَى الْمَدِينَةِ.
The army set up its cannons on the hill overlooking the city.
تَعَالَتْ أَصْوَاتُ الْمَدَافِعِ مُعْلِنَةً بِدَايَةَ الْمَعْرَكَةِ قَبْلَ أَنْ يَخِيمَ صَمْتٌ ثَقِيلٌ عَلَى السَّاحَةِ.
The roar of the cannons rose to announce the start of the battle, before a heavy silence fell over the field.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | مِدْفَعٌ | مَدَافِعُ |
| Genitive | مِدْفَعٍ | مَدَافِعَ |
| Accusative | مِدْفَعًا | مَدَافِعَ |
| Vocative | يَا مِدْفَعُ | يَا مَدَافِعُ |
Word family
دَفَعَto push, to pay
دِفَاعdefense
مُدَافِعdefender (also: back, in football)
دَافِعmotive, incentive
مِدْفَعِيَّةartillery (as a corps or collective)
Etymology
The word comes from the Arabic root د-ف-ع (d-f-ʕ), meaning to push, shove, or repel. Arabic builds instrument nouns with the pattern مِفْعَل, so مِدْفَع literally denotes the thing that pushes. A cannon fits this sense directly: it pushes a projectile out with force. This is a native Semitic formation, not a borrowed term.
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