How to say "generosity" in Arabic

Shifted meaning

Meaninggenerosity

Arabic · Modern Standard Arabic

كَرَم

karamכרם

كرم

Hebrew · Modern Hebrew

נדיבות

nedivutنِدِيڤُوت

How the two words are related

Shifted meaning

Same root as a Hebrew word, but the meaning drifted over the centuries.

Arabic root

ك-ر-م

Hebrew root

כ-ר-ם

Karam, 'generosity', is spelled and sounds exactly like Hebrew כֶּרֶם, 'vineyard' — and the shared root is real: Arabic itself keeps a second, concrete member of the same root family, كَرْم (karm), meaning 'grapevine, vineyard'. BDB traditionally compares that pair directly with Hebrew כֶּרֶם. So the root likely started around fruitfulness and abundance, narrowing to a specific crop in Hebrew while Arabic kept the abstract sense too — a generous person is, at root, an 'abundant' one.

Related Hebrew word:כרםkeremكِرِم

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In a phrase

كَرَم عَرَبِيّ
karam ʿarabīכרם ערבי

Arab hospitality

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