How to say "poor, put-upon, pitiful (colloquial Arabic) → poor thing (Israeli slang)" in Arabic

Loanword

Meaningpoor, put-upon, pitiful (colloquial Arabic) → poor thing (Israeli slang)

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

غَلْبَان

ghalbānע'לבאן

غلبان

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

עלבן

albanأَلْبَان

How the two words are related

Loanword

Borrowed between the languages (or by both from a third).

Arabic root

غ-ل-ب

Hebrew root

ע-ל-ב

From ghalaba, 'to overcome, defeat' — a ghalbān is literally 'the overcome one', a colloquial CaCCān adjective on the same pattern as زَعْلَان and this app's own طَفْرَان. Some traditionally compare the root to Hebrew ע-ל-ב of עלבון, 'insult' (غ↔ע is a regular shift) — to be overcome and to be humiliated aren't far apart, though the link is not certain. Israeli slang uses it with real tenderness, for someone put-upon and pitiable.

Related Hebrew word:עלבוןelbonإِلْبُون

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In a phrase

بِنْت غَلْبَانَة
bint ghalbānaבנת ע'לבאנה

a poor girl (pitiful)

Feminine

غَلْبَانَة
ghalbānaע'לבאנה

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