Practical Number Words
9 words · ~12 min
Arabic fractions follow the pattern فُعُل: ثُلُث (1/3), رُبُع (1/4), خُمُس (1/5), etc. The word رَقْم refers to a digit or symbol (like a phone number), while عَدَد refers to an abstract count or quantity. مَرَّة (time/occurrence) is used with numbers to count how many times: مرة (once), مرتان (twice), ثلاث مرات (three times).
Arabic mathematical vocabulary has deeply influenced world languages. 'Cipher' comes from صِفْر (ṣifr, zero), and the concept of zero as a number was transmitted to Europe through Arab mathematicians.
Lesson overview
Practical Number Words is a level A2 lesson of 9 words: 7 nouns and 2 adjectives. Its words come from 9 Arabic roots, listed below with links to each root family.
- Builds on: Large Numbers & Ordinals (A2)
- Next lesson: Media & Journalism (B2)
Word list
| Arabic | Meaning | Type | Root |
|---|---|---|---|
ثُلُث thuluth | third (fraction) | noun | ث-ل-ث |
عُشْر ʿushr | tenth (fraction) | noun | ع-ش-ر |
نِسْبَة مِئَوِيَّة nisba miʾawiyya | percentage | noun | ن-س-ب |
رَقْم raqm | number / digit | noun | ر-ق-م |
عَدَد ʿadad | number / count | noun | ع-د-د |
ضِعْف ḍiʿf | double / twice | noun | ض-ع-ف |
مَرَّة marra | time / occurrence | noun | م-ر-ر |
زَوْجِيّ zawjiyy | even (number) | adjective | ز-و-ج |
فَرْدِيّ fardiyy | odd (number) | adjective | ف-ر-د |
Themes these words belong to: Numbers (9), Numbers Practical (9)
Sample word cards
Exercises and spaced review for all 9 words
"Practical Number Words" is one of 144 vocabulary lessons in Fahm Premium, each with guided exercises and spaced-repetition review. The first 10 lessons are free to try.
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