صبية

صَبِيَّة • (ṣabiyya) f (plural صَبَايَا (ṣabāyā), masculine صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy))

1. female equivalent of صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy, “boy, servant”):
   1. girl, young woman

صِبْيَة or صُبْيَة • (ṣibya or ṣubya) m pl

1. plural of صَبِيّ (ṣabiyy)

From Arabic صَبِيّة (ṣabiyya). For the euphemism compare Arabic حُبَاب (ḥubāb, “friend, beloved; snake”) and Ge'ez ዐርክት (ʿärəkt, “female friend; snake”).

صبية • (ṣabiyye) f (plural صبايا (ṣabāya))

1. a female teenager or a young woman, chiefly unmarried
2. (Bedouinic, euphemistic) snake

• Similarly to girl, the North Levantine word referred originally to an unmarried woman up to circa 20 years of age. With the rise of the average marriage age it may now be significantly stretched, though probably not beyond 30 years.
• The masculine equivalent is شب (šabb), which see for more.
• صبية is widely interchangeable with بنت (bint), though the latter is broader as it includes little girls and also means “daughter”.

• “Aus einem Briefe des Herrn Consul Wetzstein an Prof. Fleischer”, in Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenländischen Gesellschaft‎ (in German), volume 23, 1868 November 30, page 312 of 309–313
• Nöldeke, Theodor (1910) Neue Beiträge zur semitischen Sprachwissenschaft‎ (in German), Straßburg: Karl J. Trübner, page 89

From Arabic صَبِيّة (ṣabiyya).

• IPA^(key): /sˤa.bij.je/, ,

• Audio (Jerusalem):

  (file)

صبيّة • (ṣabiyye) f (plural صبايا (ṣabāya), masculine صبي (ṣabi))

1. girl, young woman, female teenager

• بنت (bint, “girl”)، فتاة (fatā, “girl”)