عدو

Arabic

Root
ع د و (ʕ d w)
16 terms

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ʕa.duww/

Noun

عَدُوّ • (ʕaduww) m (plural أَعْدَاء (ʔaʕdāʔ) or عِدًى (ʕidan) or عُدًى (ʕudan) or أَعَادٍ (ʔaʕādin), 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: аду (adu)

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

Persian

Etymology

Borrowed from Arabic عَدُوّ (ʕaduww)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔa.ðuː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪uː]

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

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔæ.d̪uː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔä.d̪u]

Readings
Classical reading?	aḏū
Dari reading?	adū
Iranian reading?	adu
Tajik reading?	adu

Noun

Dari	عدو
Iranian Persian
Tajik	ъаду

عدو • ('adu) (plural اعداء)

1. enemy, foe
   • 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