Learn Arabic › B1 › وادِي
وادِي
valley /ˈwaː.diː/
nounB1#2503 most common
Also: wadi (dry riverbed), ravine, watercourse
Example sentences
نَحْنُ فِي الوادِي.
We are in the valley.
الوادِي جَمِيلٌ جِدًّا.
The valley is very beautiful.
نَزَلْنا إِلَى الوادِي أَمْسِ.
We went down into the valley yesterday.
يَجْرِي الماءُ فِي الوادِي بَعْدَ المَطَرِ.
Water flows in the valley after the rain.
يُعْرَفُ هٰذا الوادِي بِكَثْرَةِ أَشْجارِ النَّخِيلِ.
This valley is known for its many palm trees.
عِنْدَما تَنْحَدِرُ السُّيُولُ مِنَ الجِبالِ، يَمْتَلِئُ الوادِي بِالماءِ فِي دَقائِقَ مَعْدُودَةٍ.
When floods pour down from the mountains, the valley fills with water within a few minutes.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | وادٍ | أَوْدِيَة |
| Genitive | وادٍ | أَوْدِيَة |
| Accusative | وادِيًا | أَوْدِيَةً |
| Vocative | يا وادِي | يا أَوْدِيَة |
Word family
وادvalley (variant spelling of the same word)
وِدْيانvalleys (broken plural)
أَوْدِيَةvalleys (alternate broken plural)
دِيَةblood money (same root, different sense)
Etymology
Wādī comes from the Arabic root w-d-y, tied to the idea of water flowing. The form is an active participle, so it originally meant something like "a flowing place" before it settled into the plain sense of a valley or riverbed. English borrowed the word directly as "wadi" to describe a channel that stays dry most of the year but floods after rain. The word appears widely across North Africa and the Middle East, often in place names.
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