A new word or phrase from the Hans Wehr dictionary, every Wednesday.
قومس qaumas pl. قوامس qawāmis2 depths of the sea; pl. mishaps, misfortunes, adversities
Root: ق-م-س
Page: 924*
Example: “شَعَرَ وَكَأَنَّهُ غارِقٌ في قَوامِس”
Translation: “he felt as though he was drowning in adversities”
Notes:
- Maybe you’ve noticed how similar this word and its plural are to قاموس / قواميس, meaning “dictionary” or “ocean”, which we looked at in Six Arabic Words for “Ocean” or “Sea”!
- The 2 by the plural in the dictionary indicates that it’s a diptote (ممنوع من الصرف)—see How to Use (and Love) the Hans Wehr Dictionary and A List of Abbreviations in the Hans Wehr Dictionary for help with using this dictionary
Revise all of the vocab from the series on Quizlet:
* The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th Edition
The Arabic Pages 