رَفَسَ
rafasa
The English phrase kick is translated into Arabic as رَفَسَ (rafasa) or رَكَلَ.
Meaning: strike with or raise the foot or leg (verb)
Ways to say it
| Arabic | Romanization (Wiktionary) |
|---|---|
| رَفَسَ | rafasa |
| رَكَلَ | rakala |
The verb meaning to strike with or raise the foot or leg can be expressed in two ways depending on the subject.
Which one should you use?
The verb رَفَسَ is more commonly used when describing an animal, such as a horse, kicking. In contrast, the verb رَكَلَ is more commonly used in the context of human movement or sports, such as kicking a ball.
Related words
How does it change in a sentence?
The noun for a single instance of a kick is رَكْلَة.
How do you pronounce it?
rafasa
Did you know?
- In some Arabic dialects, the act of 'kicking' someone can be used as a slang term for firing them from a job or evicting them from a place.
- While English uses 'kick' for both people and animals, using رَفَسَ for a human in Arabic can make you sound like you are calling them an animal.
- The noun for a single kick, رَكْلَة, follows a morphological pattern shared by many other Arabic words that describe different types of physical impacts.
Examples in context
- لا تركل الباب! هذا غير مهذب.Don't kick the door! It's not polite.
- رَفَسَ الحصانُ الصبيَّ.rafasa al-hisanu al-sabiyya.The horse kicked the boy.
- رَفَسَ الطفلُ اللعبةَ بعيداً.rafasa al-tiflu al-lu'bata ba'idan.The child kicked the toy away.
Sources
- Wiktionary, “kick” translations, CC BY-SA 4.0, dump of 2026-09-26.
