عاصمة
'asima
The Arabic word for the political capital of a state is عاصمة ('asima).
عاصمة is used to describe the chief city that serves as the seat of a nation's government. This term can also be used in specific phrases such as عاصمة الموضة, which means fashion capital.
Meaning: chief (in a political sense, as being the seat of the general government of a state or nation) (adj)
How does it change in a sentence?
The word عاصمة is a feminine noun, which means that any adjectives used to describe it must also be in the feminine form. If you need to refer to multiple cities, the plural form is عواصم.
How do you pronounce it?
'asima
Did you know?
- The word عاصمة is related to the word معصم, which refers to the 'wrist'. Both words share a root meaning of 'binding' or 'holding' something in place.
- The root of عاصمة is also found in the word معصوم, which means 'infallible' or 'protected from sin', often used in religious texts to describe prophets.
- In Arabic, the term عاصمة is strictly for a city, whereas English can use 'capital' to describe a letter of the alphabet. Arabic uses حرف كبير to describe a capital letter.
Examples in context
- أتوا هي عاصمة كندا.Ottawa is the capital of Canada.This sentence is useful for demonstrating how to identify the capital of a country.Tatoeba #498632 by saeb, translation #64997 by CK
- بكين هي عاصمة الصين.Beijing is the capital of China.Tatoeba #488834 by saeb, translation #389049 by sysko
- باريس هي عاصمة فرنسا.Paris is the capital of France.Tatoeba #477356 by saeb, translation #35027 by CK
- العاصمة المصرية هي القاهرةThe Egyptian capital is Cairo
- سنحتاج إلى مزيد من رأس المال لتنفيذ هذا المشروعWe will need more capital to implement this project
- ميلانو هي عاصمة الموضة في إيطالياMilan is the fashion capital of Italy
- 53 more sentences on Tatoeba
Example conversation
Ziad and Sarah are discussing a trip to a new country.
- زياد Ziadما هي عاصمة هذه الدولة؟ma hiya 'asimat hadhihi al-dawla?What is the capital of this country?
- سارة Saraعاصمتها مدينة جميلة جداً.'asimatuhā madīna jamīla jiddan.Its capital is a very beautiful city.
- زياد Ziadهل هي بعيدة عن هنا؟hal hiya ba'īda 'an hunā?Is it far from here?
- سارة Saraلا، يمكننا الذهاب إليها غداً.lā, yumkinunā al-dhahāb ilayhā ghadan.No, we can go there tomorrow.
Sources
- Example sentences: Tatoeba CC BY 2.0 FR.
