How to say "ink" in Arabic
Shifted meaningMeaningink
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
ḥibrחבר
حبر
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
dyoدْيُو
How the two words are related
Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.
Arabic root
ح-ب-رHebrew root
ח-ב-רThe Qurʾān uses أَحْبَار, 'rabbis' (9:31), for Jewish religious scholars — a direct loan from Aramaic חַבְרַיָּא/חברא, 'fellows, scholars', the same root as Hebrew חבר, 'friend, member'. Classical lexicographers link the 'ink' sense to the same root too (a scholar's tool), though that stretch is shakier than the rabbi-word itself, which is a clean, direct loan.
Related Hebrew word:חבר / חברא (ארמית)khaver / khavra (aramit)خَاڤِر / خَڤْرَا (أَرَامِيت)
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In a phrase
a fountain pen (literally 'ink pen')
Plural
broken plural afʿāl-shape; the same plural, أحبار, also means 'rabbis' — see the note above.