Meaning & use
fellah
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Meaning
nouncountableregional
A peasant or farmer in Egypt or other Arabic-speaking countries, especially one who works the land.
Grammar: Countable; the plural is usually fellahin, but fellahs is also used in English.
Patterns
- an Egyptian fellah
- the fellahin (plural)
- a fellah's life
The fellahin have farmed the Nile valley for centuries.
He wrote about the daily struggles of the Egyptian fellah.
The fellah irrigated his fields using an ancient method.
Word forms
| plural | fellahin |
|---|---|
| plural | fellahs |
Common combinations
- Egyptian fellah
- The Egyptian fellah worked from sunrise to sunset.
- the fellahin
- The fellahin revolted against unfair taxes.
- a fellah's life
- The novel describes a fellah's life in the countryside.
Synonyms and how they differ
Commonly confused: fellah or fellow?
fellah vs fellow
Fellow means a man or companion; fellah is a farmer in Egypt. They sound somewhat similar but are unrelated.
Practice
The ______ have cultivated the land along the Nile for thousands of years.
Choose one answer.
Fellahin is the plural of fellah and specifically refers to Egyptian or Arabic-speaking peasants; peasants and farmers are more general and could fit but lose the specific regional meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “fellah”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.