menu Podcast

The modern English word "battery" comes from a Middle English noun ("batri") which means "forged metal ware". "Batri" can be traced back to an Old French word, "batterie", which means "beating". It's easy to establish a link between the Old French word and its modern English counterpart if you bear in mind the fact that blacksmiths had to beat metal into thin plates.

In Modern French "battre" means "to beat", and in Modern English legal terminology "battery" denotes the unlawful beating or wounding of a person. You often hear of people being arrested for "assault and battery".

I wonder how many Arabs know that they are using an Old French word when they go into a shop and ask for "battarriyyaat".

Salam,

JAK Ustaad Saleh and Mohammed for another useful lesson.
I was wondering if we can interchange or use "Shagal" شغل for work here in place of "A3mal".
Ex: I dont work here - Laa Shagal hunaa

Ma assalaama

Mohammed, interesting picture for the lesson... what's up with that? Looks like Moriarty or something
BTW. Good editing job!

@Jenkki, lol well the guy in the picture looks like the type that often gets asked whether he works in the shop or not, because he looks scarily unapproachable people will ask him, in order to initiate a conversation or ask him a follow up question, even if they knew he worked there.

It was great having you on the show. You were a blast! Hope we can meet up again sometime in the near future.

@quest
اشتغل / يشتغل (ishta3’ala / yashta3’il) (Form 8 verb of شغل ) can also be used to mean ‘to work’. لا أشتغل هنا (laa a’shta3’il hunaa) = I do not work here.

lol @ Moshaya - true lol when I first saw the picture I felt it was a perfect match for the subject cause in my opinion, this is EXACTLY the kinda guy that would often be asked whether he worked in a shop or not! In fact, it seems to me that this kinda guy would be proud to say:
"نعم! انا اعمل هنا! كيف أستطيع مساعدتك؟"

ههههههه

I just wanted to point out to Desmond that the word battery also has a military meaning, either a set of coastal defenses or a group of guns on warships. I'm not sure how the word came to be applied to storage of energy.

@ dcundy

I'm fully aware of the fact that "battery" has several meanings which I did not mention. Some of these meanings are puzzling. Thus, for instance, it is hard to explain why "battery" is sometimes used to designate a large number of similar things or people (ex.: a battery of methods and techniques).

By contrast, it is relatively easy to explain how "battery" came to be used as a term for a storage device. Batteries are often constructed of lead plates, and lead, like any other metal, has to be flattened out. Blacksmiths used to employ hammers to do this kind of work.

Assalamalaikum , marhaba , it's my first time here to post but I already knew this site since 2009, Alhamdullilah I learned some basic 'loha arabi'.Alf shukran to Ehab and Moshaya and et al for improving the program...keep it up.By the way can you make a dialogue scene inside the bank wherein a teller speak to a clients in arabic,...minfadlak?..yani, a deposit and withdrawal transaction happening in the bank.Maskoor ya saeedi.
Yallah, jazak allah kier...fr- Sonny (ana min Philippine wa lakim aamal fi huna al emirata)

Assalamualaikum , just want to ask how to speak in arabic like this;
- 'hello,deposit or withdrawal please...?'
- '...please put your signature in front and also at the back please..'
- '...write the acct number and mobile number also,please'
- '...the form is over there,please fill it up then when you finished come back to me,please..'
- 'this transaction will take a lot of time waiting, have a seat please and we will call you later...'
- 'will you be able to speak with my boss and ask him...'
- 'please give the original certificate and original id,please'
- 'I'm sorry I don't have large notes,it's finish since this morning...'
- 'ok, thank you...have a nice day...bye'
Maasalama...

The etymology of the various meanings of battery can be elusive. The military meaning seems to be derived from the idea that bombardment = battery which led to the meaning being extended to an array of weapons such as cannons. I've read that it was this extension of the meaning to an array that, in turn, led to Benjamin Franklin coining the term 'battery' for an array of Leyden jars (early capacitors). Elsewhere, I've seen it suggested that the connection is between the sparking of early batteries and weapons although that sounds more doubtful.

Other derivations are simpler, as with food where a batter is co-called because the mixture has been beaten together (with a spoon) so, battery could also, albeit rarely, be used in that context too!