How to say "snake" in Arabic
New wordMeaningsnake
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
حَيَّة
ḥayyaחייה
حية
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
נָחָשׁ
nakhashنَاخَاش
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
ح-ي-وLearn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
تِعْبَان
tiʿbānתעבאןCairo's snake is a tiʿbān (MSA thuʿbān, with th → t).
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
حنْش
ḥenshחנשDarija's snake is a ḥensh.
In a phrase
حَيَّة سَامَّة
ḥayya sāmmaחייה סאמהa poisonous snake
Plural
حَيَّات
ḥayyātחייאתsound feminine plural -āt