How to say "thousand" in Arabic
CognateMeaningthousand
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَلْف
alfאלף
ألف
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אלף
elefإِلِف
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
أ-ل-فHebrew root
א-ל-ףA perfect match: אלף and alf are the same ancient Semitic word for 1,000, essentially unchanged in either language — the same letters that also name aleph and alif.
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In a phrase
أَلْف لَيْلَة وَلَيْلَة
alf layla wa-laylaאלף לילה ולילהa thousand and one nights
Plural
آلَاف
ālāfאלאףbroken plural aCCāC — the pattern's initial hamza fuses with alf's own into the long ā of آلَاف.