Arabic vocabulary
كَأْسcup in Arabic
كَأْس is how you say “cup” in Arabic. Hear it pronounced and see it used in a real example sentence from classical texts below.
Root ك أ س (k-ʾ-s)noun (feminine)Pronounced kaʾs
Meaning of cup in Arabic
- a drinking-cup — some hold that a cup is only called كَأْس while it contains wine; empty, it is called قَدَح instead
- a cup of wine; a cup full of wine
- wine itself — an extension from the vessel to its contents
- (figurative) a bitter draught — of abasement, separation, death, or love — e.g. سَقَاهُ كَأْسًا مِنَ المَوْتِ, 'he gave him to drink a cup of death'
كَأْس is grammatically feminine. Beyond the literal cup, it is used tropically for any hateful or painful experience one is made to 'drink,' as in سَقَاهُ الكَأْسَ الأَمَرَّ, 'he gave him to drink the most bitter cup,' meaning death.
Words from the same root
- كَاسٌvariant form of كَأْس with the hamza dropped; same meaning, cup
- أَكْؤُسٌplural of paucity: (a few) cups
- كُؤُوسٌplural: cups
- كِئَاسٌplural: cups
- كَاسَاتٌplural of the variant كَاسٌ: cups
Common questions
- How do you say "cup" in Arabic?
- كَأْس (kaʾs) — a drinking-cup, especially one holding wine.
- Does كأس only mean a physical cup?
- No — it can also stand for wine itself, and figuratively for a bitter experience one is made to endure, such as death or separation.
Definitions synthesised from Lane's Arabic-English Lexicon (E. W. Lane, 1863–1893).
Example sentences
لا تجزع من كأس زلل كانت سبب كيسك،
Do not despair from a cup of slip that was the cause of your prudence.
كَأْسِ — cup. kas means 'a cup'; heading an 'of…' phrase with the next word ('a cup of…'); the noun after 'min'.
From: Adam's Descent →
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