How to say "grain, seed, kernel" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaninggrain, seed, kernel
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥabbaחבה
حبة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
garinگَارِين
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-ب-بHebrew root
ח-ב-בSame root as Hebrew חבב, 'to cherish, be fond of' — but here it names the object, not the feeling: ḥabba is a grain or seed. Arabic itself stretches ح-ب-ب to cover both 'grain' and 'love' (ḥabīb, 'beloved', is the same root); Hebrew kept only the affectionate half.
Related Hebrew word:חבבkhibevخِبِڤ
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In a phrase
a grain of wheat
Plural
broken plural CuCūC — collectively 'grains, cereals', and colloquially 'pills'
The root family
ح-ب-بח-ב-ב· love
The love root behind ḥabībī. Hebrew's ח-ב-ב is a genuine old twin — Biblical חֹבֵב, modern חיבב and חיבה — so this family is true kinship, not just borrowing. That said, Israeli חביבי and חבוב themselves are recent loans straight from Arabic: the root came home twice.
- حُبّ ḥubbloveחִבָּהaffection
- حَبِيب ḥabībbeloved, darlingחָבִיבlikeable, dear
- حَبِيبِي ḥabībīmy darling — the one Arabic word every Israeli knowsחֲבִיבִיbuddy (Israeli slang, borrowed straight back)
- أَحَبَّ aḥabbahe lovedחִבֵּבhe was fond of
- مَحْبُوب maḥbūbbeloved, popular
- حَبَّة ḥabbagrain, seed; pill (Levantine ḥabbe ḥabbe — little by little)