How to say "stairs, staircase" in Arabic
CognateMeaningstairs, staircase
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
darajדרג'
درج
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
madregotمَادْرِگُوت
How the two words are related
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
د-ر-جHebrew root
ד-ר-גRoot د-ر-ج matches Hebrew ד-ר-ג letter for letter — the same root behind Hebrew מדרגה 'step, stair' and דרגה 'rank, grade'. Arabic climbed the same way: دَرَجَة daraja doubles as both a physical step and a rank or grade (first class is دَرَجَة أُولَى) — the same step-to-status leap Hebrew made with דרגה. Two languages, one staircase of meaning.
Learn it
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
A different word: sillim is the Cairo staircase.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija uses the plural drūj for the stairs.
In a phrase
He went up the stairs.