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Arabic to Arabic translations [Non-PRO]
Art, Arts & Crafts, Painting / beads making | | Arabic term or phrase: kahrab or CORBA | | what is the difference between both words? Do they both refer to amber? How do I write them in Arabic? |
| | | amber, elecricity... (see below) | Explanation:
It would be helpful if you could give us an idea about where you found the terms, whether you read them or heard them etc.
This is what I know:
kahrab (or kahraba) is a very meaning to electrify
kahrabaa is a word that originally means amber, but is now exclusively (as far as I know!) used in the sense of electricity (this may be the word which you misheard as "corba").
I have no idea why the words for amber and electricity are one and the same in Arabic!
The word commonly used for amber is "kahramaan"
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Note added at 3 hrs (2008-10-20 14:13:22 GMT)
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Ah, here some interesting information, also on the word "electricity":
It seems more than likely that the attractive power revealed by amber when rubbed was the first electrical phenomenon observed by man, and the word "electricity" itself derives from electrutn, the Latin word for amber.
(...)
This magical quality is still faintly present in our word "electricity" which is of course derived from the Greek word for amber— electron.
Just as the Greek word electron gives us our word for electricity, so is the Arabic word for electricity—kahraba' — the same as the word for amber. Al-Biruni, the great 11th century scientist and Indologist, gives this etymology for the word: "The name kahraba' is derived from its nature, because it attracts straw, and draws it to itself, as it does feathers, along with any dust adhering to them" Kahraba', justasal-Biruni says, is a compound Persian word meaning literally "straw-attracting" was borrowed by the Arabs from thePersians in the 10th century
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198106/amber.forever.h...
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Note added at 6 hrs (2008-10-20 17:44:59 GMT)
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Typo: Above I wrote "is a very meaning" - of course I meant "is a VERB meaning..."!! |
| Selected response from:
Nesrin
Local time: 21:25
| Grading comment | 3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer |
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| Discussion entries: 0 |
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Automatic update in 00:
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3 hrs confidence:   amber, elecricity... (see below)
Explanation:
It would be helpful if you could give us an idea about where you found the terms, whether you read them or heard them etc.
This is what I know:
kahrab (or kahraba) is a very meaning to electrify
kahrabaa is a word that originally means amber, but is now exclusively (as far as I know!) used in the sense of electricity (this may be the word which you misheard as "corba").
I have no idea why the words for amber and electricity are one and the same in Arabic!
The word commonly used for amber is "kahramaan"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 3 hrs (2008-10-20 14:13:22 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Ah, here some interesting information, also on the word "electricity":
It seems more than likely that the attractive power revealed by amber when rubbed was the first electrical phenomenon observed by man, and the word "electricity" itself derives from electrutn, the Latin word for amber.
(...)
This magical quality is still faintly present in our word "electricity" which is of course derived from the Greek word for amber— electron.
Just as the Greek word electron gives us our word for electricity, so is the Arabic word for electricity—kahraba' — the same as the word for amber. Al-Biruni, the great 11th century scientist and Indologist, gives this etymology for the word: "The name kahraba' is derived from its nature, because it attracts straw, and draws it to itself, as it does feathers, along with any dust adhering to them" Kahraba', justasal-Biruni says, is a compound Persian word meaning literally "straw-attracting" was borrowed by the Arabs from thePersians in the 10th century
http://www.saudiaramcoworld.com/issue/198106/amber.forever.h...
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 6 hrs (2008-10-20 17:44:59 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Typo: Above I wrote "is a very meaning" - of course I meant "is a VERB meaning..."!!
| Nesrin
Local time: 21:25
Native speaker of: Arabic
|
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The translation workplace 
