Learn Arabic › B2 › وَباء
وَباء
epidemic /waˈbaːʔ/
nounB2#4032 most common
Also: plague, pestilence, outbreak (of disease)
Example sentences
انتشر وباء في المدينة.
An epidemic spread in the city.
يخاف الناس من الوباء الجديد.
People are afraid of the new epidemic.
تسبب الوباء في إغلاق المدارس لعدة أشهر.
The epidemic caused schools to close for several months.
حاولت الحكومة السيطرة على الوباء قبل أن ينتشر إلى المناطق المجاورة.
The government tried to control the epidemic before it spread to neighboring areas.
أدى الوباء الذي اجتاح القارة إلى انهيار الأنظمة الصحية في العديد من الدول.
The epidemic that swept the continent led to the collapse of health systems in many countries.
على الرغم من الجهود الدولية لاحتواء الوباء، ما زالت أوبئة جديدة تظهر بين الحين والآخر نتيجة التغيرات المناخية والبيئية.
Despite international efforts to contain the epidemic, new epidemics still emerge from time to time because of climate and environmental change.
Declension
| Case | Singular | Plural |
|---|---|---|
| Nominative | وَباءٌ | أَوْبِئَةٌ |
| Genitive | وَباءٍ | أَوْبِئَةٍ |
| Accusative | وَباءً | أَوْبِئَةً |
| Vocative | يا وَباءُ | يا أَوْبِئَةُ |
Word family
وَبِئَto become infected with a spreading disease
وَبيءepidemic, pestilential
وَبائيepidemic, epidemiological (relating to disease outbreaks)
مَوْبوءinfested with disease, plague-ridden
Etymology
وَباء comes from the Semitic root و-ب-أ, which carries the sense of disease or contamination taking hold. The noun follows the فَعَال pattern, common for words describing an affliction or defect. The related verb وَبِئَ means to become infected or plague-stricken, showing the root was tied to sickness well before modern usage. Arabic is a Semitic language, not Indo-European, so it has no PIE root.
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