خنفساء

Arabic

Etymology

Borrowed from Aramaic חִפּוּשִׂיתָא / חִיפּוּשִׂיתָא (ḥippūśīṯā), חִיפּוּשְׂתָא / חִפּוּשְׂתָא (ḥippūśtā, “beetle, scarab”) from the verb Proto-Semitic *ḥapaś- (“to search together”) not attested as such in Aramaic.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /xun.fu.saːʔ/

Noun

خُنْفُسَاء • (ḵunfusāʔ) f (dual خُنْفُسَاوَانِ (ḵunfusāwāni), plural خَنَافِس (ḵanāfis), masculine خُنْفُس (ḵunfus))

1. dung beetle, scarab; beetle

Declension

Declension of noun خُنْفُسَاء (ḵunfusāʔ)

Singular	basic singular diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خُنْفُسَاء ḵunfusāʔ	الْخُنْفُسَاء al-ḵunfusāʔ	خُنْفُسَاء ḵunfusāʔ
Nominative	خُنْفُسَاءُ ḵunfusāʔu	الْخُنْفُسَاءُ al-ḵunfusāʔu	خُنْفُسَاءُ ḵunfusāʔu
Accusative	خُنْفُسَاءَ ḵunfusāʔa	الْخُنْفُسَاءَ al-ḵunfusāʔa	خُنْفُسَاءَ ḵunfusāʔa
Genitive	خُنْفُسَاءَ ḵunfusāʔa	الْخُنْفُسَاءِ al-ḵunfusāʔi	خُنْفُسَاءِ ḵunfusāʔi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خُنْفُسَاوَيْن ḵunfusāwayn	الْخُنْفُسَاوَيْن al-ḵunfusāwayn	خُنْفُسَاوَيْ ḵunfusāway
Nominative	خُنْفُسَاوَانِ ḵunfusāwāni	الْخُنْفُسَاوَانِ al-ḵunfusāwāni	خُنْفُسَاوَا ḵunfusāwā
Accusative	خُنْفُسَاوَيْنِ ḵunfusāwayni	الْخُنْفُسَاوَيْنِ al-ḵunfusāwayni	خُنْفُسَاوَيْ ḵunfusāway
Genitive	خُنْفُسَاوَيْنِ ḵunfusāwayni	الْخُنْفُسَاوَيْنِ al-ḵunfusāwayni	خُنْفُسَاوَيْ ḵunfusāway
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	خَنَافِس ḵanāfis	الْخَنَافِس al-ḵanāfis	خَنَافِس ḵanāfis
Nominative	خَنَافِسُ ḵanāfisu	الْخَنَافِسُ al-ḵanāfisu	خَنَافِسُ ḵanāfisu
Accusative	خَنَافِسَ ḵanāfisa	الْخَنَافِسَ al-ḵanāfisa	خَنَافِسَ ḵanāfisa
Genitive	خَنَافِسَ ḵanāfisa	الْخَنَافِسِ al-ḵanāfisi	خَنَافِسِ ḵanāfisi

Descendants

• Maltese: ħanfus
• Moroccan Arabic: خنفوس (ḵanfūs)

References

• Freytag, Georg (1830) “خنفساء”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 401
• Freytag, Georg (1830) “خنفساء”, in Lexicon arabico-latinum praesertim ex Djeuharii Firuzabadiique et aliorum Arabum operibus adhibitis Golii quoque et aliorum libris confectum‎^[2] (in Latin), volume 1, Halle: C. A. Schwetschke, page 533
• Hoch, James E. (1994) Semitic Words in Egyptian Texts of the New Kingdom and Third Intermediate Period, Princeton: Princeton University Press, →ISBN, pages 66–67
• Leslau, Wolf (1991) Comparative Dictionary of Geʿez (Classical Ethiopic), 2nd edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, →ISBN, page 227
• Wehr, Hans with Kropfitsch, Lorenz (1985) “خنفساء”, in Arabisches Wörterbuch für die Schriftsprache der Gegenwart‎^[3] (in German), 5th edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, published 2011, →ISBN, page 367