إصبع

Arabic

Root
ص ب ع (ṣ-b-ʕ)

Etymology

From Proto-Semitic *ʔiṣbaʕ-. Akin to Hebrew אצבע, Aramaic אֶצְבְּעָא (ʾeṣbəʿā), Classical Syriac ܨܒܥܐ (ṣeḇʿā), Tigrinya ኣጻብዕ (ʾaṣabʿ), Coptic ⲧⲏⲃ (tēb), Ugaritic 𐎜𐎕𐎁𐎓 (ủṣbʿ), Egyptian ḏbꜥ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʔisˤ.baʕ/

• Audio

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Noun

إِصْبَع • (ʔiṣbaʕ) f or m (plural أَصَابِع (ʔaṣābiʕ))

1. finger, toe
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 2:19:

     أَوْ كَصَيِّبٍ مِنَ السَّمَاءِ فِيهِ ظُلُمَاتٌ وَرَعْدٌ وَبَرْقٌ يَجْعَلُونَ أَصَابِعَهُمْ فِي آذَانِهِم مِنَ الصَّوَاعِقِ حَذَرَ الْمَوْتِ

     ʔaw kaṣayyibin mina s-samāʔi fīhi ẓulumātun waraʕdun wabarqun yajʕalūna ʔaṣābiʕahum fī ʔāḏānihim mina ṣ-ṣawāʕiqi ḥaḏara l-mawti

     Or like a rainstorm from the sky, wherein is darkness, thunder and the flash of lightning. They thrust their fingers in their ears by reason of the thunder-claps, for fear of death.

   • 2018, وَجْدِيّ الْأَهْدَل, أرض المؤامرات السعيدة, Bayrūt: Nawfal / Hachette Antoine, →ISBN, page 47:

     كان هناك ولد صغير يتكلّم ويحاول أن يشبّ على أصابعه لينظر من النافذة.

     There was a small boy talking and trying to rear on his toes to look through the window.

2. piano key
3. popsicle
4. lollipop

Usage notes

Generally feminine.

Declension

Declension of noun إِصْبَع (ʔiṣbaʕ)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	إِصْبَع ʔiṣbaʕ	الْإِصْبَع al-ʔiṣbaʕ	إِصْبَع ʔiṣbaʕ
Nominative	إِصْبَعٌ ʔiṣbaʕun	الْإِصْبَعُ al-ʔiṣbaʕu	إِصْبَعُ ʔiṣbaʕu
Accusative	إِصْبَعًا ʔiṣbaʕan	الْإِصْبَعَ al-ʔiṣbaʕa	إِصْبَعَ ʔiṣbaʕa
Genitive	إِصْبَعٍ ʔiṣbaʕin	الْإِصْبَعِ al-ʔiṣbaʕi	إِصْبَعِ ʔiṣbaʕi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	إِصْبَعَيْن ʔiṣbaʕayn	الْإِصْبَعَيْن al-ʔiṣbaʕayn	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
Nominative	إِصْبَعَانِ ʔiṣbaʕāni	الْإِصْبَعَانِ al-ʔiṣbaʕāni	إِصْبَعَا ʔiṣbaʕā
Accusative	إِصْبَعَيْنِ ʔiṣbaʕayni	الْإِصْبَعَيْنِ al-ʔiṣbaʕayni	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
Genitive	إِصْبَعَيْنِ ʔiṣbaʕayni	الْإِصْبَعَيْنِ al-ʔiṣbaʕayni	إِصْبَعَيْ ʔiṣbaʕay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	أَصَابِع ʔaṣābiʕ	الْأَصَابِع al-ʔaṣābiʕ	أَصَابِع ʔaṣābiʕ
Nominative	أَصَابِعُ ʔaṣābiʕu	الْأَصَابِعُ al-ʔaṣābiʕu	أَصَابِعُ ʔaṣābiʕu
Accusative	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa	الْأَصَابِعَ al-ʔaṣābiʕa	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa
Genitive	أَصَابِعَ ʔaṣābiʕa	الْأَصَابِعِ al-ʔaṣābiʕi	أَصَابِعِ ʔaṣābiʕi

Derived terms

• صَبَعَ (ṣabaʕa, “to point with the finger”)
• صَبَّعَ (ṣabbaʕa, “to finger”)
• صَبِيع (ṣabīʕ, “carbuncle”)
• تَصَبَّعَ (taṣabbaʕa, “to digitate, to form finger-like structures or carbuncles”)

References

• Dozy, Reinhart Pieter Anne (1881) “صبع”, in Supplément aux dictionnaires arabes‎^[1] (in French), volume 1, Leiden: E. J. Brill, pages 815–816
• Kogan, Leonid (2011) “Proto-Semitic Lexicon”, in Weninger, Stefan, editor, The Semitic Languages. An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft – Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science; 36), Berlin: De Gruyter, →ISBN, page 224
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “صبع”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[2], London: Williams & Norgate, pages 1646–1647
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “صبع”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN, page 586