How to say "flag" in Arabic
New wordMeaningflag
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
عَلَم
ʿalamעלם
علم
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
דגל
degelدِگِل
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ع-ل-مLearn it
In a phrase
عَلَم الدَّوْلَة
ʿalam ad-dawlaעלם א-דולהthe flag of the state
Plural
أَعْلَام
aʿlāmאעלאםBroken plural aCCāC — like قلم→أقلام.
The root family
ع-ل-م· knowing
Arabic's great knowledge root — science, teachers, flags, and the world itself. Hebrew's ע-ל-ם is a different root meaning "to hide" (נעלם, תעלומה), so there is no straight twin; Hebrew covers this ground with י-ד-ע and ל-מ-ד instead. Yet עולם and ʿālam are clearly the same word — many linguists hold that Arabic took ʿālam from Aramaic ʿālmā, so the world sneaks in through a side door.
- عِلْم ʿilmknowledge, science
- عَلِمَ ʿalimahe knew
- مُعَلِّم muʿallimteacher
- عَالَم ʿālamworldעוֹלָםworld — likely the same word via Aramaic
- تَعْلِيم taʿlīmeducation, instruction
- عَلَم ʿalamflag, banner