ardeb

[ahr-deb]

noun

1. a unit of capacity used for dry measure in Egypt and neighboring countries, officially equivalent in Egypt to 5.62 U.S. bushels, but varying greatly in different localities.

ardeb

/ ˈɑːdɛb /

noun

1. a unit of dry measure used in Egypt and other Middle Eastern countries. In Egypt it is approximately equal to 0.195 cubic metres

Word History and Origins

Origin of ardeb¹

1860–65; < dialectal Arabic ardabb ≪ Aramaic 'rdb, perhaps < Old Persian; compare Egyptian Demotic 'rtb, late Akkadian ardabu, Elamite irtiba, Syriac 'arṭba, Greek artábē, Arabic 'irdabb ≪ Aramaic

Word History and Origins

Origin of ardeb¹

C19: from Arabic ardabb, from Greek artabē a Persian measure

Example Sentences

In this way Ibrahim gathered upwards of 60,000 ardebs from the Blue and White Niles.

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Under Nebuchadnezzar we find 12 qas, or the third part of an ardeb, of sesame sold for half a shekel, which would make the cost of a single quart a little more than a penny.

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Wheat is now 400 piastres the ardeb up here; the little loaf, not quite so big as our penny roll, costs a piastre—about three-half-pence—and all in proportion. 

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Once no less than eighty thousand ardebs of grain was stolen from the arsenal.

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The ardeb, like most measures in this country of commercial confusion, varies greatly according to the grain for which it is used.

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