How to say "hot" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaninghot
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥārrחאר
حار
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
khamخَام
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-ر-رHebrew root
ח-ר-רBiblical Hebrew uses the same ḥ-r-r root for burning and scorching — charah (חרה), as in 'his anger burned', and nichar (נחר), 'scorched'. Arabic kept the root for plain physical heat.
Related Hebrew word:חרהkharaخَارَا
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On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
Spoken Levantine says sukhn for hot things; hot weather is shōb.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
sukhn for hot things; hot weather is ḥarr — il-gaww ḥarr.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
Darija says skhūn for hot things and hot weather alike.
In a phrase
the weather is very hot