How to say "yellow" in Arabic
New wordMeaningyellow
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
أَصْفَر
aṣfarאצפר
أصفر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
צהוב
tsahovتْسَاهُوڤ
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ص-ف-رNo Hebrew relative for the color, but a fun aside within Arabic itself: ṣifr (صِفْر) — 'empty, zero' — comes from this very root ص-ف-ر, the old logic being that something drained of color looks pale, like an empty vessel. That ṣifr is where English got both 'zero' and 'cipher'.
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
صْفر
ṣferצפרDarija drops the initial a: ṣfer.
In a phrase
زَهْرَة صَفْرَاء
zahra ṣafrāʾזהרה צפראאa yellow flower
Plural
صُفْر
ṣufrצפרcolor plural CuCC
Feminine
صَفْرَاء
ṣafrāʾצפראאMore words from this root
More in Colors, Shapes & Measures
- pink, rose-coloredwardiyyوَرْدِيّורוד
- grayramādiyyرَمَادِيّאפור
- orange (color)burtuqāliyyبُرْتُقَالِيّכתום
- purple, violetbanafsajiyyبَنَفْسَجِيّסגול
- brownbunniyyبُنِّيّחום
- colorlawnلَوْنצבע
All Colors, Shapes & Measures words Explore all root families