عدو

Arabic

Root
ع د و (ʕ d w)
19 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕa.duww/

Noun

عَدُوّ • (ʕaduww) m (plural أَعْدَاء (ʔaʕdāʔ) or عِدًى (ʕidan, construct state عِدَى (ʕidā)) or عُدًى (ʕudan, construct state عُدَى (ʕudā)) or أَعَادٍ (ʔaʕādin, construct state أَعَادِي (ʔaʕādī)), feminine عَدُوّ (ʕaduww) or عَدُوَّة (ʕaduwwa))

1. enemy; foe

   Antonyms: صَدِيق (ṣadīq), حَلِيف (ḥalīf), خَلِيل (ḵalīl), نَصِير (naṣīr)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 43:67:

     الْأَخِلَّاءُ يَوْمَئِذٍ بَعْضُهُمْ لِبَعْضٍ عَدُوٌّ إِلَّا الْمُتَّقِينَ

     al-ʔaḵillāʔu yawmaʔiḏin baʕḍuhum li-baʕḍin ʕaduwwun ʔillā l-muttaqīna

     Close friends, that Day, will be enemies to each other, except for the righteous.

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 63:4:

     هُمُ ٱلْعَدُوُّ فَٱحْذَرْهُمْ

     humu l-ʕaduwwu faḥḏarhum

     They are the enemy, so beware of them.

Declension

Declension of noun عَدُوّ (ʕaduww)

singular	basic singular triptote
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	عَدُوّ ʕaduww	الْعَدُوّ al-ʕaduww	عَدُوّ ʕaduww
nominative	عَدُوٌّ ʕaduwwun	الْعَدُوُّ al-ʕaduwwu	عَدُوُّ ʕaduwwu
accusative	عَدُوًّا ʕaduwwan	الْعَدُوَّ al-ʕaduwwa	عَدُوَّ ʕaduwwa
genitive	عَدُوٍّ ʕaduwwin	الْعَدُوِّ al-ʕaduwwi	عَدُوِّ ʕaduwwi
dual	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	عَدُوَّيْن ʕaduwwayn	الْعَدُوَّيْن al-ʕaduwwayn	عَدُوَّيْ ʕaduwway
nominative	عَدُوَّانِ ʕaduwwāni	الْعَدُوَّانِ al-ʕaduwwāni	عَدُوَّا ʕaduwwā
accusative	عَدُوَّيْنِ ʕaduwwayni	الْعَدُوَّيْنِ al-ʕaduwwayni	عَدُوَّيْ ʕaduwway
genitive	عَدُوَّيْنِ ʕaduwwayni	الْعَدُوَّيْنِ al-ʕaduwwayni	عَدُوَّيْ ʕaduwway
plural	basic broken plural triptote‎; broken plural in ـًى (-an)‎; broken plural diptote in ـٍ (-in)
	indefinite	definite	construct
informal	أَعْدَاء‎; عِدَى‎; عُدَى‎; أَعَادِي ʔaʕdāʔ‎; ʕidā‎; ʕudā‎; ʔaʕādī	الْأَعْدَاء‎; الْعِدَى‎; الْعُدَى‎; الْأَعَادِي al-ʔaʕdāʔ‎; al-ʕidā‎; al-ʕudā‎; al-ʔaʕādī	أَعْدَاء‎; عِدَى‎; عُدَى‎; أَعَادِي ʔaʕdāʔ‎; ʕidā‎; ʕudā‎; ʔaʕādī
nominative	أَعْدَاءٌ‎; عِدًى‎; عُدًى‎; أَعَادٍ ʔaʕdāʔun‎; ʕidan‎; ʕudan‎; ʔaʕādin	الْأَعْدَاءُ‎; الْعِدَى‎; الْعُدَى‎; الْأَعَادِي al-ʔaʕdāʔu‎; al-ʕidā‎; al-ʕudā‎; al-ʔaʕādī	أَعْدَاءُ‎; عِدَى‎; عُدَى‎; أَعَادِي ʔaʕdāʔu‎; ʕidā‎; ʕudā‎; ʔaʕādī
accusative	أَعْدَاءً‎; عِدًى‎; عُدًى‎; أَعَادِيَ ʔaʕdāʔan‎; ʕidan‎; ʕudan‎; ʔaʕādiya	الْأَعْدَاءَ‎; الْعِدَى‎; الْعُدَى‎; الْأَعَادِيَ al-ʔaʕdāʔa‎; al-ʕidā‎; al-ʕudā‎; al-ʔaʕādiya	أَعْدَاءَ‎; عِدَى‎; عُدَى‎; أَعَادِيَ ʔaʕdāʔa‎; ʕidā‎; ʕudā‎; ʔaʕādiya
genitive	أَعْدَاءٍ‎; عِدًى‎; عُدًى‎; أَعَادٍ ʔaʕdāʔin‎; ʕidan‎; ʕudan‎; ʔaʕādin	الْأَعْدَاءِ‎; الْعِدَى‎; الْعُدَى‎; الْأَعَادِي al-ʔaʕdāʔi‎; al-ʕidā‎; al-ʕudā‎; al-ʔaʕādī	أَعْدَاءِ‎; عِدَى‎; عُدَى‎; أَعَادِي ʔaʕdāʔi‎; ʕidā‎; ʕudā‎; ʔaʕādī

Derived terms

• اَلْحَقُّ مَا شَهِدَتْ بِهِ ٱلْأَعْدَاءُ (al-ḥaqqu mā šahidat bihi l-ʔaʕdāʔu, proverb)
• عَدُوُّ عَدُوِّي صَدِيقِي (ʕaduwwu ʕaduwwī ṣadīqī, proverb)

Descendants

• Maltese: għadu
• → Northern Kurdish: edû
• → Persian: عَدو ('adu)
• → Swahili: adui
• → Somali: cadow
• → Tajik: адӯ (adü)

References

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

Moroccan Arabic

Root
ع د و
1 term

Etymology

From Arabic عَدُوّ (ʕaduww).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕduww/, /ʕduː/

Noun

عدو • (ʕduww, ʕdū) m (plural عديان (ʕadyān), feminine عدوة (ʕduwwa))

1. enemy, foe

North Levantine Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic عَدُوّ (ʕaduww).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕa.ˈduww/

Noun

عَدُوّ • (ʕaduww) m (plural أَعْدَاء (ʔaʕdāʔ) or عَدُوِّين (ʕaduwwīn), feminine عَدُوَّة (ʕaduwwe))

1. enemy; foe

Derived terms

• (Lebanon, rural, allegedly from السِّلّ لِلْأَعْدَاء (as-sill lil-ʔaʕdāʔ, literally “tuberculosis upon the enemies”)) السَّلَعْدي ~ السَّلَعْدِة (s-salaʕde, expletive interjection)

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic عَدُوّ (ʕaduww)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʔa.ˈduːw/, /ʔa.ˈduː/

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪uːw], [ʔä.d̪uː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪uːw], [ʔä.d̪uː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪uːw], [ʔä.d̪uː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪uw], [ʔä.d̪u]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæ.d̪uːv], [ʔæ.d̪uː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪ɵ]

Readings
Classical reading?	adūw, adū
Dari reading?	adūw, adū
Iranian reading?	aduv, adu
Tajik reading?	'adü

Noun

Dari	عدو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	адӯ

عدو • (adū, adūw / adu, aduv) (plural اعداء, or اعادی, Tajik spelling адӯ)

1. enemy, foe

   Synonym: دشمن (došman)

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume II, verse 791:

     نیست خفاشک عدوی آفتاب
     او عدوی خویش آمد در حجاب

     nīst xufāš-ak 'adu-i āftāb
     ō 'adū-i xwēš āmad dar hajāb

     The little bat is not an enemy to the sun:
     it is an enemy to itself in the veil (of its own blindness).

References

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934), “عدو”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim