Learn ArabicB1 › مِرْآَة

مِرْآَة

mirror /mirˈʔaːh/

nounB1#2855 most common

Also: looking glass, reflection (figurative, as in a mirror of something)

Example sentences

هَذِهِ مِرْآةٌ.
This is a mirror.
أَنْظُرُ إِلَى وَجْهِي فِي الْمِرْآةِ.
I look at my face in the mirror.
اِشْتَرَتْ سَارَة مِرْآةً جَدِيدَةً لِغُرْفَتِهَا.
Sara bought a new mirror for her room.
كَسَرَتِ الْقِطَّةُ الْمِرْآةَ عِنْدَمَا قَفَزَتْ عَلَى الطَّاوِلَةِ.
The cat broke the mirror when it jumped on the table.
تُعَلَّقُ الْمَرَايَا فِي صَالَةِ الرَّقْصِ لِتَكْبِيرِ الْمَسَاحَةِ بَصَرِيًّا.
Mirrors are hung in the dance hall to visually enlarge the space.
يَقُولُ الْفَيْلَسُوفُ إِنَّ الْمِرْآةَ لَا تَعْكِسُ الْحَقِيقَةَ بَلْ صُورَةً مَقْلُوبَةً عَنْهَا.
The philosopher says the mirror does not reflect the truth, but rather an inverted image of it.

Declension

CaseSingularPlural
Nominativeمِرْآةٌمَرَايَا
Genitiveمِرْآةٍمَرَايَا
Accusativeمِرْآةًمَرَايَا
Vocativeيَا مِرْآةُيَا مَرَايَا

Word family

رأىto see
رؤيةvision, sight
رأيopinion, view
مرئيvisible
مراياmirrors (plural)

Etymology

Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root. The word comes from the triliteral root ر-أ-ي (r-ʾ-y), which carries the meaning "to see." مِرْآَة is built on the noun-of-instrument pattern مِفْعَلة, so it literally names the tool used for seeing. The same root gives Arabic its everyday words for vision and opinion.

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