How to say "sweat" in Arabic
LoanwordMeaningsweat
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ʿaraqערק
عرق
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
ze'aزِئَا
How the two words are related
Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).
Arabic root
ع-ر-قHebrew has no inherited cognate for 'sweat' — that's זיעה, a separate root. But it does have a direct loanword: ערק, the anise spirit arak, traditionally explained as the 'sweat' beaded off the still during distillation. Order a round of ערק and you're quoting Arabic ʿaraq outright. (The same consonants, revocalized as ʿirq, also mean 'root, vein' — see that entry below.)
Related Hebrew word:ערקarakأَرَاك
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
Cairo turns the qāf into a glottal stop: ʿaraʾ.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija keeps the q: ʿreq.
In a phrase
It's hot out and I'm sweating.