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r b ʿ

40 lemmas · 8 languages
soundAll three consonants are regular📜 Gen.1.19
Themes:four· أَرْبَعَة · אַרְבַּע·9fourth·8quarter·6wednesday·6square·4
POS shape:noun·24num·6adj·5adv·3verb·2

This root is attested across 8 Semitic languages in our index. Each section below shows representative lemmas; attested means a Wiktionary editor explicitly tagged the root, inferredmeans we derived it mechanically from the word's consonantal skeleton.

Etymology treehow this root diverged from Proto-Semitic through the family

*r-b-ʿProto-Semitic
West Semitic
Central Semitic
Northwest Semitic
Canaanite
Hebrewרֹבַער ב ע— defective spelling of רובע
Aramaic
Syriacܡܪܒܥܐܪ ܒ ܥ— enclosure, cote, fold, byre
Assyrian NAܡܪܲܒܸܥܪ ܒ ܥ— to quadruple, multiply by four
Turoyoܪܒܥܪ ܒ ܥ— spring
Arabic
Arabicرُبُعر ب ع— one fourth, one quarter
South Semitic
Ethio-Semitic
Ge'ezአርባዕረ በ ዐ— four (4)
Amharicረቡר ב ע— alternative form of ረቡዕ (räbuʿ)
Tigrinyaረቡዕረ በ ዐ— Wednesday

Branch structure: Huehnergard (2005), Rubin (2010). The reconstructed Proto-Semitic form is computed on the fly from the cognate set's majority reflex pattern.

Classical Syriac

syc · 6 lemmas
  • nounattestedWiktionary ↗
    enclosure, cote, fold, byre
    Compare Arabic مَرْبِض (marbiḍ) and Hebrew מִרְבָּץ (mirbāṣ).
  • nounattestedWiktionary ↗
    square tabor, tambourine, timbrel
    Compare Arabic رَبِيع (rabīʕ) and Hebrew רְבִיעָה (rəḇîʿâ).
  • rabbīʿnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    Rabi, the third and fourth months of the Islamic calendar
    From Arabic رَبِيع (rabīʕ).
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    fourth, quarter (¼)
    Derived from ܐܪܒܥܐ (ʾarbəʿā, “four”). Compare Arabic رُبْع (rubʕ) and Hebrew רֶבַע (réḇaʿ).
    ▸ 1 derivation
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    field mouse, jerboa
    From Arabic يَرْبُوع (yarbūʕ).
  • nouninferredWiktionary ↗
    Wednesday
    From ܐܪܒܥܐ (ʾarb(ə)ʿā, “four, fourth”) + ܒ- (b(ə)-, “in”) + ܫܒܐ (šabbā), absolute singular form of ܫܒܬܐ (šabb(ə)ṯā, “Saturday, week”). Compare Arabic الأرْبَعَاء (al-ʔarbaʕāʔ) and Hebrew יוֹם רְבִיעִי (yôm rəḇîʿî).

Assyrian Neo-Aramaic

aii · 6 lemmas
  • mrabbiˁverbattestedWiktionary ↗
    to quadruple, multiply by four
    Denominal verb from ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”).
  • rḇīˁānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    square tabor, tambourine, timbrel
    Inherited from Aramaic; compare Arabic رَبِيع (rabīʕ) and Hebrew רְבִיעָה (rəḇîʿâ).
    ▸ 1 derivation
  • raḇˁayadvattestedWiktionary ↗
    three years ago
    Inherited from Aramaic [Term?], calque of Akkadian [Term?]. The ending -j is probably in analogy with ܫܸܬܩܲܕ݇ܝ (šitqay, “last year”). Compare Classical Syriac ܪܲܒ݂ܥܲܬ݂ (raḇʕaṯ).
  • ruḇˁānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    fourth, quarter (¼)
    Derived from ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”); compare Arabic رُبْع (rubʕ) and Hebrew רֶבַע (réva).
  • rḇīˁāyāadjattestedWiktionary ↗
    fourth (4th)
    Of the pattern 12ī3āyā or ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four”) + -ܝܐ (-āyā, the attributive adjective ending).
    ▸ 3 derivations
  • arbˁāḇšabbānounattestedWiktionary ↗
    Wednesday
    From ܐܲܪܒܥܵܐ (arbˁā, “four, fourth”) + ܒ- (b-, “in”) + ܫܲܒܵܐ (šabbā, “week”); compare Arabic الْأَرْبِعَاء (al-ʔarbiʕāʔ) and Hebrew יוֹם רְבִיעִי (yom revi’í).

Hebrew

he · 8 lemmas
  • róvanounattested📜 Exod.29.40Wiktionary ↗
    defective spelling of רובע
    From Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible:
  • révanounattested📜 Exod.29.40Wiktionary ↗
    quarter, one fourth
    From Strong's Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible:
  • róva'nounattested📜 Exod.29.40Wiktionary ↗
    quarter (a division or section of a town or city, especially having a particular character of its own, or associated with a particular group etc)
  • arba'ánumattested📜 Gen.14.9Wiktionary ↗
    four
    From Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕatum.
  • m'rubá'adjattested📜 Ezek.45.2Wiktionary ↗
    quadrilateral (having four sides)
  • m'rubá'nounattested📜 Ezek.45.2Wiktionary ↗
    quadrilateral (a polygon with four sides)
  • r'vi'íadjattested📜 Gen.1.19Wiktionary ↗
    fourth
  • rivonnounattestedWiktionary ↗
    quarter (period of three months)
    רבע (revá') + ־ון (on)

Arabic

ar · 8 lemmas
  • rubuʕnounattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    one fourth, one quarter
    Compare أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa, “four”). Cognate to Hebrew רֹבַע (róva', “quarter”).
    ▸ 8 derivations
  • tarabbaʕaverbattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    to eat spring grain
  • rābiʕadjattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    fourth
  • rubāʕnounattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    four at a time, in a group of four, in fours
  • rabīʕnounattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    spring (season)
  • murabbaʕnounattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    square, quadrangular piece
    Derived from the passive participle of رَبَّعَ (rabbaʕa, “to quadruple”); compare أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa, “four”). Cognate with Aramaic מְרַבַע/ܡܪܒܥ (mrabbaˁ, mrubbaˁ, “square”).
  • murabbaʕadjattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    square, quadratic
    Derived from the passive participle of رَبَّعَ (rabbaʕa, “to quadruple”); compare أَرْبَعَة (ʔarbaʕa, “four”). Cognate with Aramaic מְרַבַע/ܡܪܒܥ (mrabbaˁ, mrubbaˁ, “square”).
  • marbaʕnounattested☪︎ Q.2:51Wiktionary ↗
    meadow
    Noun of place from the verb رَبَعَ (rabaʕa, “to feed oneself in the pasture”), from a ر ب ع (r b ʕ) derived from رَبِيع (rabīʕ, “spring (season)”).

Ge'ez

gez · 2 lemmas
  • ʾärbaʿnuminferredWiktionary ↗
    four (4)
    From Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕum.
  • ʾärbaʿtunuminferredWiktionary ↗
    four (4)
    From Proto-Semitic *ʔarbaʕatum.

Amharic

am · 4 lemmas
  • räbunouninferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative form of ረቡዕ (räbuʿ)
  • räbuadvinferredWiktionary ↗
    alternative form of ረቡዕ (räbuʿ)
  • räbuʿnouninferredWiktionary ↗
    Wednesday
    Akin to Tigrinya ረቡዕ (räbuʿ).
  • räbuʿadvinferredWiktionary ↗
    on Wednesday
    Akin to Tigrinya ረቡዕ (räbuʿ).

Tigrinya

ti · 5 lemmas

Turoyo

tru · 1 lemma

Related rootsshare 2 of 3 consonants with r-b-ʿ

Compare two languages side-by-side

syc ↔ aiisyc ↔ hesyc ↔ arsyc ↔ gezsyc ↔ am