How to say "widow" in Arabic
CognateMeaningwidow
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَرْمَلَة
armalaארמלה
أرملة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אַלְמָנָה
almanaأَلْمَانَا
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ر-م-لKlein's dictionary connects armala directly to Hebrew almana (אלמנה) — by way of Aramaic armalta (ארמלתא), which shares Arabic's own r-m-l skeleton. Hebrew's ʾ-l-m-n shape is usually explained as an old dissimilation of the two liquids. A classic, oft-cited comparison, though Klein himself flags the underlying etymology as uncertain.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
هجَّالَة
hejjālaהג'אלהA different word: hejjāla is the Darija widow.
In a phrase
أَرْمَلَة الْحَرْب
armalat al-ḥarbארמלת אל-חרבa war widow
Plural
أَرَامِل
arāmilאראמלbroken plural CaCāCiC — like أرملة→أرامل.