How to say "silk" in Arabic
New wordMeaningsilk
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
حَرِير
ḥarīrחריר
حرير
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
משי
meshiمِشِي
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ح-ر-رFrom ح-ر-ر 'free, hot' — the same root behind حُرِّيَّة 'freedom' — though why silk got that name is debated, possibly 'the fabric of the free/noble' as opposed to coarser cloth. Hebrew משי is its own old word, likely itself an ancient loan from the silk trade; no link between the two.
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In a phrase
طَرِيق الْحَرِير
ṭarīq al-ḥarīrטריק אל-חרירthe Silk Road