ذرة

Arabic

Etymology 1

From the root ذ ر ر (ḏ-r-r). Related to the verb ذَرَّ (ḏarra, “to strew, to scatter”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ðar.ra/

Noun

ذَرَّة • (ḏarra) f (singulative, collective ذَرّ m (ḏarr), paucal ذَرَّات (ḏarrāt))

1. tiny particle, speck, mote
   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 4:40:

     إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَّةٍ وَإِنْ تَكُ حَسَنَةً يُضَاعِفْهَا

     ʔinna l-laha lā yaẓlimu miṯqāla ḏarratin waʔin taku ḥasanatan yuḍāʕifhā

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

2. (physics, chemistry) atom

Declension

Descendants

• Gulf Arabic: ذرة (ḏarra)
• Hijazi Arabic: ذرة (ḏarra)
• → Azerbaijani: zərrə
• → Northern Kurdish: zere
• → Ottoman Turkish: ذره (zerre)
  • Turkish: zerre
  • → Serbo-Croatian: zehra, зехра
• → Persian: ذره (zarre)
  • → Hindustani:

    Hindi: ज़रा (zarā)

    Urdu: ذرا (zarā)

  • → Punjabi:

    Gurmukhi script: ਜ਼ਰਾ (zarā)

    Shahmukhi script: ذرا (zarā)

• → Turkmen: zerre
• → Uyghur: زەررە (zerre)
• → Uzbek: zarra

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “ذر”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Etymology 2

From the root ذ ر و (ḏ-r-w) or ذ ر ي (ḏ-r-y)? Compare ذَرَا (ḏarā, “to scatter, to blow away”), also spelled ذَرَى (ḏarā).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ðu.ra/
  • (Gulf Arabic) IPA^(key): /ðʊ.rə/
  • (Hijazi) IPA^(key): /du.ra/

Noun

ذُرَة • (ḏura) f (collective, singulative ذُرَة f (ḏura))

1. durra, Indian millet (Sorghum bicolor)
2. maize, durum corn, Indian corn (Zea mays)

Declension

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: ذرة (dura)
  • → Greek: ντούρα (ntoúra)
• → English: durra, dhoora, dhoorra, dhourra, dhurran, doura, dura
• → Finnish: durra
• Hijazi Arabic: ذرة (dura)
• → Persian: ذرت (zorrat)
• South Levantine Arabic: درة (dura)

References

• Wehr, Hans (1979) “ذرو”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN
• Wehr, Hans (1979) “ذري”, in J. Milton Cowan, editor, A Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic, 4th edition, Ithaca, NY: Spoken Language Services, →ISBN

Hijazi Arabic

Etymology 1

From Arabic ذُرَة (ḏura).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /dura/, /ðura/

Noun

ذرة • (dura) f (collective, singulative ذرة f (dura))

1. maize, corn

   Synonym: حبش (ḥabaš)

Etymology 2

From Arabic ذَرَّة (ḏarra).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /zar.ra/, /ðar.ra/

Noun

ذرة • (ḏarra) f (plural ذرات (ḏarrāt))

1. atom
2. tiny particle, speck, mote

Usage notes

Both traditional and spelling pronunciations are used by most speakers interchangeably.