How to say "tail" in Arabic
CognateMeaningtail
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ذَنَب
dhanabד'נב
ذنب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
זָנָב
zanavزَانَاڤ
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ذ-ن-بHebrew root
ז-נ-בDhanab is zanav exactly, ذ↔ז as in dhahab/zahav (gold). A bonus: Arabic dhanb (same letters, different short vowel) means 'sin' — a sin as the thing trailing behind you.
Learn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
دَنَب
danabדנבذ becomes d in Levantine, the same shift as ذئب→ديب (wolf): danab.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
دَيْل
dēlדילCairo uses a different word: dēl (MSA dhayl).
In a phrase
ذَنَب الْقِطّ
dhanab al-qiṭṭד'נב אל-קטthe cat's tail
Plural
أَذْنَاب
adhnābאד'נאבbroken plural CaCCāC