How to say "to reckon, calculate" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningto reckon, calculate
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥasabaחסב
حسب
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
khishevخِيشِڤ
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-س-بHebrew root
ח-ש-בOne counting root, two careers: ḥasaba stayed at the ledger (ḥisāb, a bill — exactly חשבון), while Hebrew ח-ש-ב drifted from reckoning to thinking. Then the twentieth century reunited them: each language coined 'computer' from this very root — Arabic ḥāsūb, Hebrew מחשב.
Related Hebrew word:חשבkhashavخَاشَاڤ
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In a phrase
He calculated the price quickly
The root family
ح-س-بח-ש-ב· reckoning
One counting root, two careers: Hebrew ח-ש-ב drifted from reckoning to thinking (חשב), while Arabic stayed at the ledger — ḥisāb is your restaurant bill, exactly חשבון. Then both modern languages, coining a word for computer, reached for the very same root: Hebrew built מחשב, Arabic built ḥāsūb.
- حِسَاب ḥisābbill, account, arithmeticחֶשְׁבּוֹןbill, account
- حَسَبَ ḥasabahe counted, calculatedחָשַׁבhe thought — counting turned inward
- حَاسُوب ḥāsūbcomputerמַחְשֵׁבcomputer — same root, same century
- حَاسِبَة ḥāsibacalculator (āla ḥāsiba)
- مُحَاسِب muḥāsibaccountant
- حَسَب ḥasabaccording to (bi-ḥasab)