A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.
زرافات ووحدانا zarāfātin wa-wuḥdānan in groups and alone
Root: ز-ر-ف
Page: 437*
Example: “أَخَذَ المَدَنيّونَ يَهرُبونَ زَرافاتٍ وَوُحداناً”
Translation: “civilians began to flee in groups and alone”
Notes:
- We might be most familiar with the word زَرافة (also pronounced زُرافة) as meaning “giraffe”! But it can also refer to a group of people, which is the intended meaning in this phrase where we see it in its plural form
- أَخَذَ followed by a present tense verb (يهربون, in the example above) is just one of the ways to say “to begin to” in Arabic. Check out Four Synonyms for “to Begin to” in Arabic for more!
Revise all of the vocab from the series on Quizlet:
* The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th Edition
The Arabic Pages 