Arabic word sheet
طَائِفَةٌ
Group of people
- Type
- noun
- Root
- ط و ف
Meaning and usage
Group of people
A number of people gathered or taken together, apart from the rest.
جَلَسَتْ طَائِفَةٌ مِنَ الطُّلَّابِ فِي الْحَدِيقَةِ.
A group of students sat in the garden.
Part, portion
A piece taken off a whole; a certain amount of a thing.
قَرَأَ رَامِي طَائِفَةً مِنَ الْكِتَابِ.
Rami read a part of the book.
Community, body
A set of people who form a class of their own, for instance those of one trade or one allegiance.
يَنْتَمِي الْجَارُ إِلَى طَائِفَةِ التُّجَّارِ.
The neighbour belongs to the body of merchants.
Plural
طَوَائِفُ
Word family
What the root means ط و ف
The core idea of the root is going or walking round something. From it come the verbs 'to go round' and 'to tour'; the dictionaries tie the word for a group to 'the one who goes round'.
to go round
طَافَ
going round
طَوَافٌ
one who goes round
طَائِفٌ
to go round, to surround
أَطَافَ
Synonyms
group, division
فِرْقَةٌ
Stresses separation from a larger whole: a fraction set apart from it.
group, gathering
جَمَاعَةٌ
Broader: any gathering of people, with no idea of a share taken out of a whole.