صَحراء
root: ص-ح-ر / noun / plural: صَحارٍ / definition: desert
In this series so far, we’ve explored uncommon Arabic words for colours, clouds, and rain. This time—as I’ve kept on coming across alternative terms for it in my regular resorts to the dictionary—I’m compiling a list of uncommon Arabic words for “desert”, most commonly translated as صحراء.
Here’s what I’ve got so far:
تِيه
from the root ت-ي-ه, related to “being lost”
فَيفاء
take a look at the story mentioned in Wehr Wednesdays #178 which mentions this noun
بَيداء
derived from the root ب-ي-د which relates to perishing—بيداء can also be found under the root ب-د-و in the Hans Wehr which is the root of the following word on this list
بَدو
this noun can be used to refer to Bedouins as well
مَتلَف
similarly, this word is from ت-ل-ف which is linked to destruction; note that this word is an example of the مَـ of time and place
قَواء / قِواء / قِيّ
these words are from the root ق-و-ي which is related to not only strength, but also hunger, withheld rain, and being deserted
سَبسَب
a nice reduplicated quadriliteral here—under the root س-ب-س-ب, we also find a form II quadriliteral verb (تَسَبسَبَ / يَتَسَبسَبُ) which means “(for hair) to be lank” or “(for tears) to flow”… interesting
فَدفَد
another reduplicated plural; the dictionary لسان العرب defines this noun as a “فلاة” (see the next word on this list) with nothing in it, except maybe some pebbles
فَلاة
from the root ف-ل-و, this word is defined as a waterless desert (…aren’t deserts all pretty waterless though?) or an open space
مَعماة
defined as a “roadless desert”, this noun is from the root ع-م-ي which gives the general meaning of blindness; we came across a word for “clouds” from the same root, see it here
مَفازة
the root ف-و-ز is mainly related to winning, but it also encompasses the meaning of escaping; in Lane’s Lexicon, we find that the form I verb فاز may refer to both winning/surviving and dying (see Arabic Observations: Words with Antonymic Meanings for other words with contradictory definitions), and therefore مفازة could mean the place of escape or the place of death… or both: the dictionary also mentions مفاوة as the “state of temporary safety” after you die, between this life and the next
قَفرة
the root ق-ف-ر relates to emptiness, dryness, and following someone’s tracks—see Wehr Wednesdays #172, where the example sentence contains a verb from the root ق-ف-ر as well as the phrase بادية قفراء (“arid desert”) from the roots ق-ف-ر and ب-د-و
What other Arabic words for “desert” have you come across?
!إلى اللقاء
Follow The Arabic Pages on Instagram and Twitter, and find out how you can support this blog!
If you’d like to receive email notifications whenever a new post is published on The Arabic Pages, enter your email below and click “Subscribe”:
The Arabic Pages 