How to say "woman" in Arabic
New wordMeaningwoman
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
اِمْرَأَة
imraʾaאמראה
امرأة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
אישה
ishaإِيشَا
How the two words are related
New word
No Hebrew relative — learn it fresh.
Arabic root
م-ر-أLearn it
On the street
How people actually say it in the spoken dialects, where it differs from the standard word.
Levantine · Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria
مَرَة
maraמרהEveryday but casual; sitt (سِتّ) is the polite choice.
Egyptian · Cairo and the Nile Delta
سِتّ
sittסתCairo's word is sitt (pl. sittāt); mara is rude there.
Moroccan · Morocco — Casablanca, Rabat, Fes
مْرَا
mraמראDarija's woman is mra (pl. ʿyālāt) — also 'wife'.
In a phrase
اِمْرَأَة مِنَ الْقُدْس
imraʾa mina l-qudsאמראה מן אל-קדסA woman from Jerusalem.
Plural
نِسَاء
nisāʾנסאאsuppletive plural from a different root — exactly like Hebrew isha→nashim; nisāʾ even matches nashim sound-for-sound (Arabic s ↔ Hebrew sh).