How to say "to study" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningto study
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
darasaדרס
درس
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
lamadلَامَاد
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
د-ر-سHebrew root
ד-ר-שSame root, drifted meaning: Arabic darasa is 'to study', while Hebrew דרש became 'to expound, seek out' — think מדרש, where the text is studied. Arabic madrasa (school) and Hebrew בית מדרש are cousins.
Related Hebrew word:דרשdarashدَارَاش
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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
For studying at home Cairo says zākir (ذاكر): bizākir — 'he's studying'; daras is for taking a course.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija uses qra ('read') for studying too: fīn kateqra? — 'where do you study?'
In a phrase
He studied at the university
The root family
د-ر-سד-ר-ש· studying
Traditionally compared with Hebrew ד-ר-ש "seek out, expound": the ש↔س match is regular, and madrasa lines up beautifully with מדרשה. Some linguists note that Arabic darasa originally meant "to efface, to thresh" and suspect the study sense grew under Aramaic influence — from the world of the בית מדרש itself. One warning: darasa sounds like Hebrew דרס, but he studied the book, he didn't run it over.
- دَرَسَ darasahe studiedדָּרַשׁhe sought, expounded
- دَرْس darslessonדְּרָשָׁהsermon, homily
- مَدْرَسَة madrasaschoolמִדְרָשָׁהseminary, academy
- مُدَرِّس mudarristeacher, instructor
- دِرَاسَة dirāsastudy, studiesמִדְרָשׁmidrash — study as exposition