How to say "lake" in Arabic
False friendMeaninglake
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
بُحَيْرَة
buḥayraבחירה
بحيرة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אגם
agamأَگَام
How the two words are related
False friend
Sounds like a Hebrew word but means something else — handle with care.
Arabic root
ب-ح-رBuḥayra is a diminutive of baḥr (sea) — literally 'a little sea.' That means it inherits baḥr's coincidental resemblance to Hebrew בחר, 'he chose' — and buḥayra itself sounds uncannily like Hebrew בחירה, 'election, choice.' Two Arabic sea-words, two accidental Hebrew look-alikes.
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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
ضَايَة
ḍāyaצ'איהMorocco's lake is a ḍāya.
In a phrase
بُحَيْرَة طَبَرِيَّة
buḥayrat ṭabariyyaבחירת טברייהthe Sea of Galilee (lit. Lake Tiberias)
Plural
بُحَيْرَات
buḥayrātבחיראתsound feminine plural -āt