How to say "break, recess" in Arabic
CognateMeaningbreak, recess
Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic
اِسْتِرَاحَة
istirāḥaאסתראחה
استراحة
Hebrew · Modern Hebrew
הפסקה
hafsakaهَافْسَاكَا
How the two words are related
Cognate
Same Semitic root, same meaning — you already know this word.
Arabic root
ر-و-حHebrew root
ר-ו-חForm X of the same root behind this app's 'rest' entry (رَاحَة/רווחה, ر-و-ح): istirāḥa is literally 'seeking rest' — the reflexive Form X pattern istaCCaCa. A school's istirāḥa is its recess, the moment everyone goes to 'seek their breathing room', exactly the Hebrew רווחה.
Related Hebrew word:רווחהrevakhaرِڤَاخَا
Learn 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
فُسْحَة
fusḥaפסחהA different word: the school break in Cairo is the fusḥa.
In a phrase
وَقْت الاسْتِرَاحَة
waqt al-istirāḥaוקת אל-אסתראחהbreak time