قرطاس

Arabic

Alternative forms

• قَرْطَس (qarṭas) (obsolete)

Etymology

From Aramaic קַרְטֵיסָא / ܩܪܛܝܣܐ (qarṭīsā), from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qir.tˤaːs/, /qur.tˤaːs/

Noun

قِرْطَاس or قُرْطَاس • (qirṭās or qurṭās) m (plural قَرَاطِيس (qarāṭīs))

1. (uncountable or countable, dated) paper; a sheet of paper, a page

   Synonyms: صَحِيفَة (ṣaḥīfa, “a page; a book”), وَرَقَة (waraqa, “a leaf; a sheet of paper”)

   • 609–632 CE, Qur'an, 6:7:

     وَلَوْ نَزَّلْنَا عَلَيْكَ كِتَابًا فِي قِرْطَاسٍ فَلَمَسُوهُ بِأَيْدِيهِمْ لَقَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا إِنْ هَذَا إِلَّا سِحْرٌ مُبِينٌ

     wa-law nazzalnā ʕalayka kitāban fī qirṭāsin fa-lamasūhu bi-ʔaydīhim la-qāla llaḏīna kafarū ʔin haḏā ʔillā siḥrun mubīnun

     And even if we had sent down to you some writing on a leaf so that they could touch it with their own hands, those who have disbelieved would say, “This is nothing but blatant magic."

   • 10th century, Al-Mutanabbi

     اَلْخَيْلُ وَٱللَّيْلُ وَٱلْبَيْدَاءُ تَعْرِفُنِي / وَٱلسَّيْفُ وَٱلرُّمْحُ وَٱلْقِرْطَاسُ وَٱلْقَلَمُ

     al-ḵaylu wa-l-laylu wa-l-baydāʔu taʕrifunī / wa-s-sayfu wa-r-rumḥu wa-l-qirṭāsu wa-l-qalamu

     The horses and the night and the desert know me / and the sword and the spear and the paper and the pen

2. (uncountable or countable, archaic) papyrus; a sheet of papyrus

   Synonym: بَرْدِيّ (bardiyy)

3. (uncountable or countable) individual packaging, bag, wrapper, cone
   • 2018, وَجْدِيّ الْأَهْدَل [wajdiyy al-ʔahdal], أرض المؤامرات السعيدة, Bayrūt: Nawfal / Hachette Antoine, →ISBN, page 84:

     ولكنّني حين رأيتُ هذه الأصناف القديمة سال لعابي، واشتهيتُ أكلها وكأنّني طفل. مزّقتُ قرطاس البسكويت الأول والتهمته بتلذذ،

     But when I saw these old sorts my spittle ran, and I was desirous to eat thereof as though I were a child. I rent the paper packaging of the first biscuit and devoured with winne,

4. (countable, obsolete) a mark that is fired at (such as a bullseye), a target

   Synonyms: هَدَف (hadaf), غَرَض (ḡaraḍ)

Declension

Declension of noun قِرْطَاس (qirṭās)‎; قُرْطَاس (qurṭās)

Singular	basic singular triptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قِرْطَاس‎; قُرْطَاس qirṭās‎; qurṭās	الْقِرْطَاس‎; الْقُرْطَاس al-qirṭās‎; al-qurṭās	قِرْطَاس‎; قُرْطَاس qirṭās‎; qurṭās
Nominative	قِرْطَاسٌ‎; قُرْطَاسٌ qirṭāsun‎; qurṭāsun	الْقِرْطَاسُ‎; الْقُرْطَاسُ al-qirṭāsu‎; al-qurṭāsu	قِرْطَاسُ‎; قُرْطَاسُ qirṭāsu‎; qurṭāsu
Accusative	قِرْطَاسًا‎; قُرْطَاسًا qirṭāsan‎; qurṭāsan	الْقِرْطَاسَ‎; الْقُرْطَاسَ al-qirṭāsa‎; al-qurṭāsa	قِرْطَاسَ‎; قُرْطَاسَ qirṭāsa‎; qurṭāsa
Genitive	قِرْطَاسٍ‎; قُرْطَاسٍ qirṭāsin‎; qurṭāsin	الْقِرْطَاسِ‎; الْقُرْطَاسِ al-qirṭāsi‎; al-qurṭāsi	قِرْطَاسِ‎; قُرْطَاسِ qirṭāsi‎; qurṭāsi
Dual	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قِرْطَاسَيْن‎; قُرْطَاسَيْن qirṭāsayn‎; qurṭāsayn	الْقِرْطَاسَيْن‎; الْقُرْطَاسَيْن al-qirṭāsayn‎; al-qurṭāsayn	قِرْطَاسَيْ‎; قُرْطَاسَيْ qirṭāsay‎; qurṭāsay
Nominative	قِرْطَاسَانِ‎; قُرْطَاسَانِ qirṭāsāni‎; qurṭāsāni	الْقِرْطَاسَانِ‎; الْقُرْطَاسَانِ al-qirṭāsāni‎; al-qurṭāsāni	قِرْطَاسَا‎; قُرْطَاسَا qirṭāsā‎; qurṭāsā
Accusative	قِرْطَاسَيْنِ‎; قُرْطَاسَيْنِ qirṭāsayni‎; qurṭāsayni	الْقِرْطَاسَيْنِ‎; الْقُرْطَاسَيْنِ al-qirṭāsayni‎; al-qurṭāsayni	قِرْطَاسَيْ‎; قُرْطَاسَيْ qirṭāsay‎; qurṭāsay
Genitive	قِرْطَاسَيْنِ‎; قُرْطَاسَيْنِ qirṭāsayni‎; qurṭāsayni	الْقِرْطَاسَيْنِ‎; الْقُرْطَاسَيْنِ al-qirṭāsayni‎; al-qurṭāsayni	قِرْطَاسَيْ‎; قُرْطَاسَيْ qirṭāsay‎; qurṭāsay
Plural	basic broken plural diptote
	Indefinite	Definite	Construct
Informal	قَرَاطِيس qarāṭīs	الْقَرَاطِيس al-qarāṭīs	قَرَاطِيس qarāṭīs
Nominative	قَرَاطِيسُ qarāṭīsu	الْقَرَاطِيسُ al-qarāṭīsu	قَرَاطِيسُ qarāṭīsu
Accusative	قَرَاطِيسَ qarāṭīsa	الْقَرَاطِيسَ al-qarāṭīsa	قَرَاطِيسَ qarāṭīsa
Genitive	قَرَاطِيسَ qarāṭīsa	الْقَرَاطِيسِ al-qarāṭīsi	قَرَاطِيسِ qarāṭīsi

Derived terms

• قِرْطَاسِي (qirṭāsī, “papyrus-like; papyrus-colored, papyrus-white or papyrus-yellow”)

Descendants

• Egyptian Arabic: قرطاس (ʔúrṭās)
• Gulf Arabic: قرطاس (girṭās)
• Maltese: qartas
• Moroccan Arabic: قرطاس (qurṭās, qarṭās)
• → Brunei Malay: keratas
• → Dhivehi: ކަރުދާސް (karudās)
• → Tamahaq: tăkarḍe
  • → Hausa: tákàr̃dā
    • → Nupe: tákàda
    • → Zarma: takàrdà
    • → Yoruba: tákàdá
• → Malagasy: taratàsy
• → Malay: kertas
  • Indonesian: kertas
  • → Khmer: ក្រដាស (krɑdaah)
  • → Ternate: kartas
• → Ottoman Turkish: قرطاس (kırtas)
• → Portuguese: cartaz
• → Somali: qardaas
• → Spanish: alcatraz, alcartaz
• → Sundanese: ᮊᮨᮁᮒᮞ᮪ (kertas)
• → Swahili: karatasi
• → Thai: กระดาษ (grà-daat)

See also

• كَاغِد (kāḡid)

References

• “qrṭys²”, in The Comprehensive Aramaic Lexicon Project, Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College, 1986–
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1886) Die aramäischen Fremdwörter im Arabischen (in German), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 245
• Fraenkel, Siegmund (1880) De vocabulis in antiquis Arabum carminibus et in Corano peregrinis‎^[1] (in Latin), Leiden: E. J. Brill, page 17
• Jeffery, Arthur (1938) The Foreign Vocabulary of the Qurʾān (Gaekwad’s Oriental Series; 79), Baroda: Oriental Institute, pages 235–236
• Lane, Edward William (1863) “قرطاس”, in Arabic-English Lexicon‎^[2], London: Williams & Norgate
• Löw, Immanuel (1928) Die Flora der Juden‎^[3] (in German), volume 1, Wien und Leipzig: R. Löwit, page 567

Gulf Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic قُرْطَاس (qurṭās).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ɡɪrtˤaːs/

Noun

قِرْطاس • (girṭās) m (plural قَراطيس (garāṭis))

1. packaging/wrapping surrounding new products

   الجهاز يديد بقراطيسه

   ij-jihāz yidīd b-garāṭīṣa

   the device is new, in its (original) wrappings

Moroccan Arabic

Etymology

From Arabic قُرْطَاس (qurṭās, “target”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /qurtˤaːs/, /qartˤaːs/

Noun

قُرْطَاس or قَرْطَاس • (qurṭās or qarṭās) m (plural قراطس (qrāṭis))

1. bullet (projectile)