How to say "wolf" in Arabic

Cognate

Meaningwolf

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

ذِئْب

dhiʾbד'אב

ذئب

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

זאב

ze'evزِئِڤ

How the two words are related

Cognate

Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.

Arabic root

ذ-أ-ب

Hebrew root

ז-א-ב

Dhiʾb is ze'ev with the regular Hebrew ז ↔ Arabic ذ shift — the same correspondence as zahav/dhahab (gold).

How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.

Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria

دِيب

dībדיב

ذ becomes d and the hamza drops: dīb.

Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta

دِيب

dībדיב

ذ becomes d and the hamza drops: dīb.

Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes

دِيب

dībדיב

ذ becomes d and the hamza drops: dīb.

ذِئْب فِي الْغَابَة

dhiʾb fī l-ghābaד'אב פי אל-ע'אבה

a wolf in the forest